2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 20 - Military Affairs › Article 12 - Code of Military Justice › Section 20-12-74 - Prohibited activities with military recruit or trainee by person in position of special trust; consent not a defense.

A. Any person subject to Chapter 20 NMSA 1978 shall be punished as a court-martial may direct if the person:
(1) is an officer or noncommissioned officer;
(2) is in a training leadership position with respect to a specially protected junior member of the armed forces; and
(3) knew, or reasonably should have known, that the person was engaged in prohibited sexual activity with a specially protected junior member of the armed forces.
B. Any person subject to Chapter 20 NMSA 1978 shall be punished as a court-martial may direct if the person is a military recruiter and knew, or reasonably should have known, that the person was engaged in prohibited sexual activity with:
(1) an applicant for military service; or
(2) a specially protected junior member of the armed forces who is enlisted under a delayed entry program.
C. Any person subject to Chapter 20 NMSA 1978 shall be punished as a court-martial may direct if the person:
(1) is a commissioned, warrant or noncommissioned officer;
(2) is in a training leadership position with respect to a specially protected member of the armed forces; and
(3) engaged in prohibited sexual activity with a person that the person knew, or reasonably should have known, was a specially protected junior member of the armed forces.
D. Any person subject to Chapter 20 NMSA 1978 shall be punished as a court-martial may direct if the person:
(1) is a commissioned, warrant or noncommissioned officer;
(2) is performing duties as a military recruiter; and
(3) engaged in prohibited sexual activity with a person that the person knew, or reasonably should have known, was an applicant for military service; or
(4) engaged in prohibited sexual activity with a person that the person knew, or reasonably should have known, was a specially protected junior member of the armed forces who is enlisted under a delayed entry program.
E. Consent is not a defense to prosecution pursuant to this section.
F. The maximum punishment of prosecution pursuant to this section shall be a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances received on or after the effective date of the sentence and confinement for less than one year.
G. As used in this section:
(1) "applicant for military service" means a person who, under regulations prescribed by the secretary concerned, is an applicant for original enlistment or appointment in the armed forces;
(2) "military recruiter" means a person who, under regulations prescribed by the secretary concerned, has the primary duty to recruit persons for military service;
(3) "prohibited sexual activity" means, as specified in regulations prescribed by the secretary concerned, inappropriate physical intimacy under circumstances described in such regulations;
(4) "regulations prescribed by the secretary concerned" means rules, regulations, instructions and procedures prescribed by the secretary of the army or secretary of the air force with respect to soldiers or airmen of the national guard;
(5) "specially protected junior member of the armed forces" means a member of the armed forces who is:
(a) assigned to, or is awaiting assignment to, basic training or other initial active duty for training, including a member who is enlisted under a delayed entry program;
(b) a cadet, an officer candidate or a student in any other officer qualification program; or
(c) in any program that, by regulation prescribed by the secretary concerned, is identified as a training program for initial career qualification; and
(6) "training leadership position" means, with respect to a specially protected junior member of the armed forces, any drill instructor position or other leadership position in a basic training program, an officer candidate school, a reserve officers' training corps unit, a training program for entry into the armed forces or any program that, by regulation prescribed by the secretary concerned, is identified as a training program for initial career qualification.
History:
Laws 2021, ch. 55, § 10.
ANNOTATIONS
Effective dates.
— Laws 2021, ch. 55 contained no effective date provision, but, pursuant to N.M. Const., art. IV, § 23, was effective June 18, 2021, 90 days after adjournment of the legislature.