Second Degree Rape
North Carolina statute G.S. 14-27.3 sets out the elements of the crime of second degree rape. For a person to be guilty of second degree rape, that person must engage in vaginal intercourse:
- with a person by force and against the will of the other person
- with a person who is mentally disabled, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless
A separate section of the North Carolina statutes (G.S. 14-27.1) defines the the terms mentally disabled, mentally incapacitated and physically helpless as follows:
- Mentally disabled: (i) a victim who suffers from mental retardation, or (ii) a victim who suffers from a mental disorder, either of which temporarily or permanently renders the victim substantially incapable of appraising the nature of his or her conduct, or of resisting the act of vaginal intercourse or a sexual act, or of communicating unwillingness to submit to the act of vaginal intercourse or a sexual act
- Mentally incapacitated: a victim who due to any act committed upon the victim is rendered substantially incapable of either appraising the nature of his or her conduct, or resisting the act of vaginal intercourse or a sexual act
- Physically helpless: (i) a victim who is unconscious; or (ii) a victim who is physically unable to resist an act of vaginal intercourse or a sexual act or communicate unwillingness to submit to an act of vaginal intercourse or a sexual act
Physically helpless: (i) a victim who is unconscious; or (ii) a victim who is physically unable to resist an act of vaginal intercourse or a sexual act or communicate unwillingness to submit to an act of vaginal intercourse or a sexual act.