Sexual Abuse in Arizona: ARS 13-1404

Posted on September 17, 2025 in Assault & Violent Crimes

Sexual abuse is a felony offense in Arizona under Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) 13-1404. Those charged with sexual abuse face a Class 5 felony or a Class 3 felony, depending on the circumstances, which may result in several years of prison time if convicted.

In this article, we explain how sexual abuse happens under Arizona law, the penalties for conviction, and possible defenses to a charge of sexual abuse.

If you have been charged with sexual abuse under ARS 13-1404, call AZ Defenders at (480) 456-6400 immediately to get in touch with a criminal defense attorney.

What is Arizona’s Sexual Abuse Law?

ARS 13-1404 is the statute that makes sexual abuse illegal in Arizona. The statute is not long, so we will show it here, with added emphasis on the most important parts:

13-1404. Sexual abuse; classification

A. A person commits sexual abuse by intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual contact with any person who is fifteen or more years of age without consent of that person or with any person who is under fifteen years of age if the sexual contact involves only the female breast.

B. It is not a defense to a prosecution for a violation of this section that the other person consented if the other person was fifteen, sixteen or seventeen years of age and the defendant was in a position of trust.

C. Sexual abuse is a class 5 felony unless the victim is under fifteen years of age in which case sexual abuse is a class 3 felony punishable pursuant to section 13-705.

Let’s unpack the statutory language to explain how the law works.

An Act of Sexual Contact Must Occur

Sexual abuse involves an act of “sexual contact,” which is colloquially known as “fondling” behavior. The first thing we need to understand is how Arizona law defines that term.

ARS 13-1401(A)3) defines sexual contact as any of:

• Directly or indirectly touching, fondling, or manipulating any part of the genitals, anus, or female breast of another person by any part of your body, or by any object.
  
• Causing another person to engage in the same kind of contact above.

It is important to understand that this definition of sexual contact does not include sexual penetration.

Note as well that contact does not need to be direct. What this can mean, for example, is that it is possible to commit sexual contact with another person through your clothes, if you rub up against that person in such a way as to intentionally or knowingly make sexual contact.

The Act of Sexual Contact Must be Intentional or Knowingly

Another key consideration is that the sexual contact must be intentional or knowingly in nature.

ARS 13-105(10) defines what intentional or knowing behavior is:

• Intentionally means that a person’s objective is to cause a result or to engage in prohibited conduct.
  
• Knowingly means that a person is aware or believes that the person’s conduct is of an unlawful nature or that a circumstance that makes behavior unlawful exists. It does not require any knowledge of the unlawfulness of the act or omission.

So, for example, if you were to reach out and touch an adult female’s breast, then this is at least arguably intentional behavior. But if you are in a crowded place and are trying to make your way through it, and in doing so, your hand inadvertently brushes up against another person’s genital area without meaning for it to happen, that is not sexual contact in the legal sense.

The distinction between ignorance of whether the contact is prohibited and inadvertent contact is important. If you make non-consensual sexual contact with another person as a deliberate act, but claim not to know that it was unlawful, this will not serve as a defense.

What Constitutes “Consent?”

Children under the age of 15 cannot legally consent to any kind of sexual activity.

ARS 13-1401(A)(7) defines what constitutes a lack of consent:

• The victim is coerced by the immediate use, or threatened use, of force against a person or property (this can be a threat against someone other than the victim).
  
• The victim cannot consent because of a mental disorder, mental defect, drugs, alcohol, sleep or any other similar impairment of cognition, and this condition is known or should have reasonably been known to the defendant. A mental defect means the victim cannot understand the distinctively sexual nature of the conduct, or cannot understand or exercise the right to refuse to engage in the conduct with another.
  
• The victim is intentionally deceived as to the nature of the act.
  
• The victim is intentionally deceived to erroneously believe that the person is the victim’s spouse.

The Victim’s Age Matters

The age of 15 years is a dividing line in determining whether an act of sexual abuse has taken place.

• If the victim is 15 years old or older, then the sexual contact must be without consent.
  
• If the victim is female and younger than 15, then the statute does not require that the contact be without consent as long as the sexual contact involves only the breast.

Furthermore, if the victim is aged between 15 and 17, and the alleged perpetrator of unlawful sexual contact is in a position of trust with the victim, then the victim’s consent to the sexual contact is not a defense to a charge of sexual abuse.

In this situation, ARS 13-1401(A)(2) defines the kinds of people who can be legally in a position of trust with a minor:

• A parent, stepparent, grandparent, adoptive parent, legal guardian, aunt, uncle or foster parent.
  
• A teacher, or any school employee or volunteer at the victim’s school who is eighteen years of age or older.
  
• The victim’s coach or instructor, whether the coach or instructor is an employee or volunteer.
  
• The victim’s clergyman or priest, or any person who is at least eighteen years of age and who worked or volunteered for a religious organization that hosted events or activities where the victim attended.
  
• A person who is engaged in a sexual or romantic relationship with the victim’s parent, adoptive parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, legal guardian, foster parent, stepparent, step-grandparent or sibling.
  
• A person who is related to the victim by blood or marriage within the third degree and is at least ten years older than the victim.
  
• The victim’s employer.
  
• An employee of a group home (like a child welfare agency) or residential treatment facility where the victim resides or has previously resided.

Penalties for Sexual Abuse

ARS 13-1404 identifies two kinds of felony penalties that can result from a conviction for sexual abuse:

• If the victim is at least 15 years old, then sexual abuse is a Class 5 felony in Arizona.
  
• If the victim is under age 15, then sexual abuse becomes a dangerous crime against a child under ARS 13-705 and is a Class 3 felony with enhanced penalties.

The following table sets forth the severe penalties that apply under Class 5 and Class 3 Dangerous Crime Against Children felony convictions.

Punishment	Class 5 Felony	Class 3 FelonyDangerous Crime Against a Child
Prison Sentencing Range	First offense:Up to 3 years of probation; or6 months to 2.5 years in prison. One prior felony conviction:Prison sentence of 1 to 3.75 years. Two prior felony convictions:Prison sentence of 3 to 7.5 years.	First offense:Prison sentence of at least 2.5 years (mitigated);Presumptive sentence of 5 years;Maximum sentence of 7.5 years (aggravating factors). One prior predicate offense conviction:Minimum prison sentence of 8 years;Presumptive sentence of 15 years;Maximum sentence of 22 years. Two prior predicate offense convictions:Up to 25 years in prison.
Fine	Up to $150,000	Up to $150,000

Notes:

• Non-adults can commit sexual abuse. If convicted, a minor as young as 14 can face serious consequences in the adult criminal system.
  
• For felonies that are dangerous crimes against children, convictions require serving 100% of the prison sentence with no possibility for early release.
  
• Also, if the victim is a minor (under age 18), then a conviction for sexual abuse will require registry as an Arizona sex offender. This means that you will be forbidden from having any contact with a person who is younger than 18, contact with your minor children and/or your minor grandchildren, unless you pass some testing processes and receive the consent of your probation officer.

Defenses to Sexual Abuse Charges

Several possible defenses exist if you are charged with sexual abuse in Arizona. We consider some of the more common defenses below.

Statutory Defenses

ARS 13-1407 describes some defenses to sex crime allegations, including sexual abuse. These include:

• The alleged act of sexual abuse was done in furtherance of lawful medical practice.
  
• The victim was fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen years of age if at the time the defendant engaged in the conduct constituting the offense the defendant did not know and could not reasonably have known the age of the victim.
  
• The alleged act of sexual abuse was done by a duly licensed physician or registered nurse, or a person acting under the physician’s or nurse’s direction, or any other person who renders emergency care at the scene of an emergency occurrence, and the act consisted of administering a recognized and lawful form of treatment to promote the physical or mental health of the patient.
  
• In emergency situations, if the person rendering emergency treatment reasonably believed that no one competent to consent could be consulted and that a reasonable person, wishing to safeguard the welfare of the patient, would consent.
  
• The accused was the spouse of the other person at the time of commission of the act.

Coerced Confessions

Sex abuse prosecutions often depend on obtaining a confession. Sometimes a confession is obtained under circumstances that are arguably coercive in nature and may violate your constitutional rights.

Illegal Confrontation Calls

A police tactic to obtain a confession is to have the alleged victim call you, and to secretly record the conversation. In these situations, the caller effectively becomes a police agent and becomes subject to the same laws as the police when it comes to observing your constitutional rights.

Lack of Physical Evidence

There may be no physical evidence of sexual abuse. This means that the prosecution’s case could depend solely on the testimony of the alleged victim, which may be unreliable or even false.

Illegally Obtained Evidence

If the police do obtain physical evidence against you, this normally requires a search warrant. The circumstances, legal basis and procedural requirements for a valid search warrant must be carefully scrutinized by an experienced sexual abuse defense lawyer to ensure that the police properly obtained it.

False Allegations

It is an unfortunate fact that sometimes an alleged victim or supposed witnesses may make sexual abuse accusations against you that are untrue.

Incidental Contact

As we mentioned above, intentional or knowing sexual contact is an element of a sexual abuse charge. If the contact was accidental, then you can possibly cast reasonable doubt on this element.

Also, under ARS 13-1401(A)(3)(b), sexual contact does not include direct or indirect touching or manipulating during caretaking responsibilities or interactions with a minor or vulnerable adult that an objective, reasonable person would recognize as normal and reasonable under the circumstances.

Violations of Your Civil Rights

As with other criminal charges, the police must follow proper procedures when arresting you and when questioning you while you are in custody. These include informing you of your Miranda rights, that you have the right to remain silent, and to have a lawyer present when they question you, and to refuse to answer further questioning at any time.

If the police fail to properly inform you of these rights, or violate them, this can lead to any confession being thrown out as evidence and otherwise create reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury as to the validity or strength of the prosecution’s case against you.

Are You the Subject of Sexual Abuse Allegations in Arizona?

Sex offenses are serious charges to face in Arizona and carry felony-level consequences if convicted. Not all criminal defense attorneys have the expertise needed to defend against these kinds of allegations.

At AZ Defenders, our Phoenix sex crimes attorneys have decades of experience defending clients against all kinds of sex crimes, including sexual abuse. We know how sexual abuse cases work, which laws apply, and what defendants need in terms of defense strategies.

No matter what allegations someone has brought against you, you can contact us for a free—and 100% confidential—initial consultation about your specific case. We can talk you through the statutes that might apply to your situation, and represent you as your criminal defense attorneys during negotiations with prosecutors and, if necessary, at trial.

With years of your freedom at stake and the possibility of being subject to thousands of dollars in fines, plus having to register as a sex offender if convicted, don’t leave anything to chance. Call our law firm at (480) 456-6400 or use our contact form to schedule a free case evaluation.