Quote:
Originally posted by MysticCat81
Touching might constitute sexual assault ifthe touching is sexual in nature and depending on the local law. The report gives no details as to the nature of what was happening other than that the boys were huddled around the girl and that "touching" was involved. So leaving aside the question of whether boys 6-8 can have the requisite mens rea for sexualized touching, there is nothing in the report that could tell us one way or another what actually happened or if it would fit a definition of sexual assault.
That said, the website of the Missouri General Assembly has Missouri statutes, and according to it, Missouri Revised Statute 566-040 says "A person commits the crime of sexual assault if he has sexual intercourse with another person knowing that he does so without that person's consent." The entire chapter on sexual offenses can be seen here -- I'm not seeing anything that would make mere touching constitute sexual assault in Missouri, but admittedly I may not be looking in the right places.
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I think most of the posters were using sexual assault colloquially rather than as a legal term of art. Using the link you provided, it would appear that the appropriate crime in Missouri would be first degree child molestation "A person commits the crime of child molestation in the first degree if he or she subjects another person who is less than fourteen years of age to sexual contact." Sexual contact is defined as "any touching of another person with the genitals or any touching of the genitals or anus of another person, or the breast of a female person, or such touching through the clothing, for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire of any person." Based on the local news report it may have been attempted molestation. The issue, I am sure, will be whether the purpose was for arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of the attackers.