Opinion ID: 897570
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Gross Sexual Imposition

Text: [¶6] The jury found Igou guilty of gross sexual imposition, a class A felony, in violation of N.D.C.C. § 12.1-20-03(1)(d), which provides: 1. A person who engages in a sexual act with another, or who causes another to engage in a sexual act, is guilty of an offense if: . . . . d. The victim is less than fifteen years old. [¶7] In viewing the evidence most favorable to the verdict, we conclude it is sufficient to support Igou's conviction of gross sexual imposition for having sex with Kate, who at the time was 14 years old. The evidence shows that during Memorial Day weekend in 2003, Igou, Mary, Nancy, and Kate all went camping at a nearby lake. The four of them slept in one large tent. Kate testified that late in the evening, when they were all lying in the tent, Igou began touching her vaginal area under her clothes. Nancy testified that Kate grabbed my hand and had me feel her pants, and his [Igou's] hand was in her pants. At 2:30 a.m., Igou drove Kate back to Bismarck so she could deliver newspapers and Nancy went with them. Kate and Nancy both testified that when they arrived in Bismarck Igou stopped at his apartment to take out his contact lenses. Nancy testified we were going to go to his place, and they were going to have sex, and then we were going to drop her off and then come back and finish, me and him were going to. Kate testified that she and Igou had sex in his bedroom while Nancy watched television in the livingroom. The three of them then left Igou's apartment and Igou dropped off Kate at her house so she could deliver her paper route. Nancy testified that she slid into the front seat when Kate got out of the car and then we were driving, and he asked me if I wanted to have sex, and then I said no I didn't, that I wanted my boyfriend to be my first. [¶8] Nancy testified that at first she was afraid to tell anyone, because Igou said he would kill them if they told. However, about a week later, Nancy told her boyfriend's mother about what had happened. The police were then notified. [¶9] Mary testified that about a week after the camping trip, Nancy told her what happened: [S]he told me the reason why she was sick to her stomach because, she goes something happened between [Igou] and [Kate]. And I'm going what's going on here, and she goes, she goes, well she told me they did it. And that's how she said it. And I'm going really. I said really. I said, and then I really got upset. And [Nancy] told me that he had asked her to do it. And she had said no. And she demanded to come back to the campground where I was. And then she told me that he said, [Igou] had said if they were to tell anybody, that he was going to kill them. [¶10] In viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, we conclude the jury could reasonably have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Igou committed gross sexual imposition in violation of N.D.C.C. § 12.1-20-03(1)(d) by having sexual intercourse with Kate, who was then 14 years old.