I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4709 
To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to bring sexual assault 
crimes under military law into parallel with sexual assault crimes under 
Federal law, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 24, 2004 
Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to bring 
sexual assault crimes under military law into parallel 
with sexual assault crimes under Federal law, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Sexual Assault 
Crimes Revision Act of 2004’’.
SEC. 2. MILITARY SEXUAL ABUSE. 
(a) SEXUAL ABUSE.—Section 920 of title 10, United 
States Code (article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military 
Justice), is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 920. Art. 120. Sexual abuse 
‘‘(a) Any person subject to this chapter who know-
ingly— 
‘‘(1) causes another person to engage in a sex-
ual act by using force against that other person; 
‘‘(2) causes another person to engage in a sex-
ual act by threatening or placing that other person 
in fear that any person will be subjected to death, 
grievous bodily harm, or kidnapping; 
‘‘(3) renders another person unconscious and 
thereby engages in a sexual act with that other per-
son; or 
‘‘(4) administers to another person by force or 
threat of force, or without the knowledge or permis-
sion of that other person, a drug, intoxicant, or 
other similar substance and thereby— 
‘‘(A) substantially impairs the ability of 
that other person to appraise or control con-
duct; and 
‘‘(B) engages in a sexual act with that 
other person;
is guilty of aggravated sexual abuse and shall be punished 
as a court-martial may direct. 
‘‘(b) Any person subject to this chapter who know-
ingly engages in a sexual act with another person who has 
not attained the age of twelve years is guilty of aggravated 
sexual abuse of a child and shall be punished as a court- 
martial may direct. In a prosecution under this subsection, 
it need not be proven that the accused knew that the other 
person engaging in the sexual act had not attained the 
age of twelve years. 
‘‘(c) Any person subject to this chapter who know-
ingly— 
‘‘(1) causes another person to engage in a sex-
ual act by threatening or placing that other person 
in fear (other than by threatening or placing that 
other person in fear that any person will be sub-
jected to death, grievous bodily harm, or kidnap-
ping); or 
‘‘(2) engages in a sexual act with another per-
son if that other person is— 
‘‘(A) incapable of appraising the nature of 
the conduct; or 
‘‘(B) physically incapable of declining par-
ticipation in, or communicating unwillingness to 
engage in, that sexual act;
is guilty of sexual abuse and shall be punished as a court- 
martial may direct. 
‘‘(d)(1) Any person subject to this chapter who know-
ingly engages in a sexual act with another person who— 
‘‘(A) has attained the age of twelve years but 
has not attained the age of sixteen years; and 
‘‘(B) is not that person’s spouse; 
is guilty of sexual abuse of a minor and shall be punished 
as a court-martial may direct. 
‘‘(2) In a prosecution under this subsection, it need 
not be proven that the accused knew the age of the other 
person engaging in the sexual act. 
‘‘(3) In a prosecution under this subsection, it is an 
affirmative defense that the accused reasonably believed 
that the other person had attained the age of sixteen 
years. The accused has the burden of proving a defense 
under this paragraph by a preponderance of the evidence. 
‘‘(e) Any person subject to this chapter who know-
ingly engages in a sexual act with another person who is— 
‘‘(1) in official detention or confinement; 
‘‘(2) under the custodial, supervisory, or dis-
ciplinary authority of the person so engaging; and 
‘‘(3) is not that person’s spouse; 
is guilty of sexual abuse of a prisoner and shall be pun-
ished as a court-martial may direct.
‘‘(f) In this section, the term ‘sexual act’ means— 
‘‘(1) contact between the penis and the vulva or 
the penis and the anus, and for purposes of this sub-
paragraph contact involving the penis occurs upon 
penetration, however slight; 
‘‘(2) contact between the mouth and the penis, 
the mouth and the vulva, or the mouth and the 
anus; 
‘‘(3) the penetration, however slight, of the anal 
or genital opening of another by a hand or finger or 
by any object, with an intent to abuse, humiliate, 
harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify the sexual de-
sire of any person; or 
‘‘(4) the intentional touching, not through the 
clothing, of the genitalia of another person who has 
not attained the age of sixteen years with an intent 
to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or 
gratify the sexual desire of any person.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) Paragraph (4) 
of section 918 of title 10, United States Code (article 118 
of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), is amended by 
striking ‘‘rape,’’ and inserting ‘‘aggravated sexual abuse, 
aggravated sexual abuse of a child,’’. 
(2) Subsection (b)(2)(B)(i) of section 843 of title 10, 
United States Code (article 43 of the Uniform Code of
Military Justice), is amended by striking ‘‘Rape or carnal 
knowledge’’ and inserting ‘‘Aggravated sexual abuse of a 
child or sexual abuse of a minor’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 47 of title 10, United States 
Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 
920 and inserting the following new item: 
‘‘920. Art. 120. Sexual abuse.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect 6 months after the date of 
the enactment of this Act and apply with respect to of-
fenses committed after such effective date. 
(e) INTERIM MAXIMUM PUNISHMENTS.—Until the 
President otherwise provides pursuant to section 856 of 
title 10, United States Code (article 56 of the Uniform 
Code of Military Justice), the punishment which a court- 
martial may direct for an offense under section 920 of 
such title (article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military 
Justice), as amended by this section, may not exceed the 
following limits: 
(1) For aggravated sexual abuse or aggravated 
sexual abuse of a child, such punishment may not 
exceed dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay 
and allowances, and confinement for life without eli-
gibility for parole.