Opinion ID: 1578391
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Is Gengels Still Viable?

Text: This Court for the first time has the opportunity to review the rule announced in Gengels and determine whether it is still viable under the successor provision of the third-degree criminal sexual conduct statute and, if so, whether it comports with a defendant's right to due process. The statute reads, in relevant part: (1) A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree if the person engages in sexual penetration with another person and if any of the following circumstances exists: (a) That other person is at least 13 years of age and under 16 years of age. MCL 750.520d; MSA 28.788(4). Sexual penetration is defined as: [S]exual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any other intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person's body or of any object into the genital or anal openings of another person's body, but emission of semen is not required. MCL 750.520a(h); MSA 28.788(1)(h). In the present case, defendant directly attacks the constitutionality of the above statute on due process grounds for imposing criminal liability without requiring proof of specific criminal intent, i.e., that the accused know that the victim is below the statutory age of consent. In particular, he argues that the crime of statutory rape is rooted in the common law and, as with other common-law offenses, the element of intent must be implied within the statutory definition of a crime, absent clear legislative language to the contrary. [4] We are urged by defendant to construe the statute's silence with respect to the element of intent as not negating the defense of a reasonable mistake of fact as to the complainant's age. In support of his argument, defendant relies primarily on two out-of-state cases which represent the minority view that, in a statutory rape prosecution, an accused's reasonable, though mistaken, belief that the complainant was of the age of consent is a valid defense. [5] People v Hernandez, 61 Cal 2d 529; 39 Cal Rptr 361; 393 P2d 673 (1964); State v Guest, 583 P2d 836 (Alas, 1978). In both these cases, the Court engrafted a mens rea element onto the statutes in question where they were otherwise silent as to any requisite criminal intent. The vast majority of states, as well as the federal courts, which have considered this identical issue have rejected defendant's arguments and do not recognize the defense of a reasonable mistake of age to a statutory rape charge. [6] For the reasons discussed below, we agree with the majority's position. After careful examination of the statute in the instant case and its legislative history, we are persuaded that the Legislature, in enacting the new criminal sexual conduct code, 1974 PA 266, intended to omit the defense of a reasonable mistake of age from its definition of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a 13- to 16-year-old, and we follow the legislative intention. First, a general rule of statutory construction is that the Legislature is presumed to know of and legislate in harmony with existing laws. People v Harrison, 194 Mich 363, 369; 160 NW 623 (1916). The Legislature must have been aware of our earlier decision rejecting the reasonable-mistake-of-age defense under the old statutory rape statute. Had the Legislature desired to revise the existing law by allowing for a reasonable-mistake-of-age defense, it could have done so, but it did not do so. [7] This is further supported by the fact that under another provision of the same section of the statute, concerning the mentally ill or physically helpless rape victim, the Legislature specifically provided for the defense of a reasonable mistake of fact by adding the language that the actor knows or has reason to know of the victim's condition where the prior statute contained no requirement of intent. [8] The Legislature's failure to include similar language under the section of the statute in question indicates to us the Legislature's intent to adhere to the Gengels rule that the actual, and not the apparent, age of the complainant governs in statutory rape offenses. Second, while the crime of statutory rape has its origins in the English common law, [9] Michigan's new criminal sexual conduct statute represents a major attempt by the Legislature to redefine the law of sexually assaultive crimes, including that of statutory rape. See People v Willie Johnson, 406 Mich 320, 327; 279 NW2d 534 (1979); People v Langworthy, 416 Mich 630, 658; 331 NW2d 171 (1982) (LEVIN, J., dissenting) . It is well established that the Legislature may, pursuant to its police powers, define criminal offenses without requiring proof of a specific criminal intent and so provide that the perpetrator proceed at his own peril regardless of his defense of ignorance or an honest mistake of fact. United States v Balint, 258 US 250, 252; 42 S Ct 301; 66 L Ed 604 (1922); Williams v North Carolina, 325 US 226, 238; 65 S Ct 1092; 89 L Ed 1577 (1945), reh den 325 US 895 (1945). In the case of statutory rape, such legislation, in the nature of strict liability offenses, has been upheld as a matter of public policy because of the need to protect children below a specified age from sexual intercourse on the presumption that their immaturity and innocence prevents them from appreciating the full magnitude and consequences of their conduct. Analysis of the statutory scheme adopted by the Legislature to define criminal sexual conduct further reveals that the Legislature cannot reasonably be said to have intended that a defense based on reasonable mistake of fact concerning the victim's age be available to persons charged under the act. We are dealing with a statute, passed by the Legislature just nine years ago, which shows, on its face, that the age of the victim was carefully considered in defining and establishing the severity of the criminal conduct. The age of the victim is balanced against the nature of the sexual conduct to establish a graduated system of punishment. See MCL 750.520b-750.520d; MSA 28.788(2)-28.788(4). Under the prior rape or carnal knowledge statute, sexual penetration of a female under the age of 16 was defined as rape, punishable by life imprisonment or any term of years. 1931 PA 328, § 520. In 1974, when the Legislature revised the law of criminal sexual conduct, it could have retained this definition of statutory rape and could have continued to punish it as criminal sexual conduct in the first degree, i.e., by life imprisonment or any term of years. The Legislature chose not to do so. The Legislature, alternatively, could have completely decriminalized consensual sexual activity with a person between the ages of 13 and 16, or, for that matter, it could have made age irrelevant. But it chose not to do so. [10] What the Legislature did choose to do was to create a system of definitions and punishments which considers the age of the victim, the type of sexual contact, and several limited situations in which the relationship of authority between victim and defendant warrant, in the legislative judgment, an increase in punishment. Thus, the Legislature has determined that sexual penetration of a victim under 13 years of age is first-degree criminal sexual conduct which is punishable by life imprisonment or any term of years. MCL 750.520b(1)(a), 750.520b(2); MSA 28.788(2)(1)(a), 28.788(2)(2). But sexual penetration of a victim 13 or older, but under 16 years of age, is third-degree criminal sexual conduct, with a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison. MCL 750.520d(1)(a), 750.520d(2); MSA 28.788(4)(1)(a), 28.788(4)(2). However, if the victim is at least 13, but less than 16 years of age, and is a member of the defendant's household or related to the defendant, a person who engages in sexual penetration of that victim is guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and may receive a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. MCL 750.520b(1)(b), 750.520b(2); MSA 28.788(2)(1)(b), 28.788(2)(2). These discrete choices made by the Legislature evidence careful consideration of age and a deliberate determination to retain the law of statutory rape where the prohibited conduct occurred and the victim was within the protected age group. One critic has argued that the exclusion of a reasonable-mistake-of-age defense in statutory rape cases is no longer justified given the increased age of consent, [11] the realities of modern society that young teens are more sexually mature, and the seriousness of the penalty as compared with other strict liability offenses. [12] We are not convinced that the policy behind the statutory rape laws of protecting children from sexual exploitation and possible physical or psychological harm from engaging in sexual intercourse is outmoded. Indeed, the United States Supreme Court recently acknowledged the state's authority to regulate the sexual behavior of minors in order to promote their physical and mental well-being, even under a gender-based statutory rape law. [13]