Ohio Legal Definitions Related to Clery Act and Violence Against Women Act

Registered Sex Offenders

Information on registered sex offenders near each campus can be obtained by contacting the local Sheriff’s Office or by visiting the Ohio Attorney General’s website. Contact information for the Sheriff’s Office closest to each campus found on its Campus Resources page located in the left navigation of this website.

Any criminal investigation conducted by OUPD or other law enforcement agency with responsibility for investigating an alleged offense of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking laws will operate in accordance with criminal elements as defined by the Ohio Revised Code.

The Ohio Revised Code (ORC) does not explicitly define “consent” or “sexual assault;” however, Chapter 2907 of the ORC provides for sexual assaults:

Section 2907.02 Rape

(A)

  1. No person shall engage in sexual conduct with another who is not the spouse of the offender or who is the spouse of the offender but is living separate and apart from the offender, when any of the following applies:
    1. For the purpose of preventing resistance, the offender substantially impairs the other person’s judgment or control by administering any drug, intoxicant, or controlled substance to the other person surreptitiously or by force, threat of force, or deception.
    2. The other person is less than thirteen years of age, whether or not the offender knows the age of the other person.
    3. The other person’s ability to resist or consent is substantially impaired because of a mental or physical condition or because of advanced age, and the offender knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the other person’s ability to resist or consent is substantially impaired because of a mental or physical condition or because of advanced age.
  2. No person shall engage in sexual conduct with another when the offender purposely compels the other person to submit by force or threat of force.

Section 2907.03 Sexual Battery

  1. No person shall engage in sexual conduct with another, not the spouse of the offender, when any of the following apply:
    1. The offender knowingly coerces the other person to submit by any means that would prevent resistance by a person of ordinary resolution.
    2. The offender knows that the other person’s ability to appraise the nature of or control the other person’s own conduct is substantially impaired.
    3. The offender knows that the other person submits because the other person is unaware that the act is being committed.
    4. The offender knows that the other person submits because the other person mistakenly identifies the offender as the other person’s spouse.
    5. The offender is the other person’s natural or adoptive parent, or a stepparent, or guardian, custodian, or person in loco parentis of the other person.
    6. The other person is in custody of law or a patient in a hospital or other institution, and the offender has supervisory or disciplinary authority over the other person.
    7. The offender is a teacher, administrator, coach, or other person in authority employed by or serving in a school for which the state board of education prescribes minimum standards pursuant to division (D) of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code, the other person is enrolled in or attends that school, and the offender is not enrolled in and does not attend that school.
    8. The other person is a minor, the offender is a teacher, administrator, coach, or other person in authority employed by or serving in an institution of higher education, and the other person is enrolled in or attends that institution.
    9. The other person is a minor, and the offender is the other person’s athletic or other type of coach, is the other person’s instructor, is the leader of a scouting troop of which the other person is a member, or is a person with temporary or occasional disciplinary control over the other person.
    10. The offender is a mental health professional, the other person is a mental health client or patient of the offender, and the offender induces the other person to submit by falsely representing to the other person that the sexual conduct is necessary for mental health treatment purposes.
    11. The other person is confined in a detention facility, and the offender is an employee of that detention facility.
    12. The other person is a minor, the offender is a cleric, and the other person is a member of, or attends, the church or congregation served by the cleric.
    13. The other person is a minor, the offender is a peace officer, and the offender is more than two years older than the other person.

Section 2907.04 Unlawful Sexual Conduct with a Minor

  1. No person who is eighteen years of age or older shall engage in sexual conduct with another, who is not the spouse of the offender, when the offender knows the other person is thirteen years of age or older but less than sixteen years of age, or the offender is reckless in that regard.

Section 2907.05 Gross Sexual Imposition

  1. No person shall have sexual contact with another, not the spouse of the offender; cause another, not the spouse of the offender, to have sexual contact with the offender; or cause two or more other persons to have sexual contact when any of the following applies: 
    1. The offender purposely compels the other person, or one of the other persons, to submit by force or threat of force.
    2. For the purpose of preventing resistance, the offender substantially impairs the judgment or control of the other person or of one of the other persons by administering any drug, intoxicant, or controlled substance to the other person surreptitiously or by force, threat of force, or deception.
    3. The offender knows that the judgment or control of the other person or of one of the other persons is substantially impaired as a result of the influence of any drug or intoxicant administered to the other person with the other person’s consent for the purpose of any kind of medical or dental examination, treatment, or surgery.
    4. The other person, or one of the other persons, is less than thirteen years of age, whether or not the offender knows the age of that person.
    5. The ability of the other person to resist or consent or the ability of one of the other persons to resist or consent is substantially impaired because of a mental or physical condition or because of advanced age, and the offender knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the ability to resist or consent of the other person or of one of the other persons is substantially impaired because of a mental or physical condition or because of advanced age.
  2. No person shall knowingly touch the genitalia of another, when the touching is not through clothing, the other person is less than twelve years of age, whether or not the offender knows the age of that person, and the touching is done with an intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.

Section 2907.06 Sexual Imposition

  1. No person shall have sexual contact with another; cause another to have sexual contact with the offender; or cause two or more other persons to have sexual contact when the offender knows that the sexual contact is offensive to the other person, or one of the other persons, or is reckless in that regard.
  2. No person shall be convicted of a violation of this section solely upon the victim's testimony unsupported by other evidence.

Ohio law does not define “dating violence,” but Chapter 2901 of the ORC outlines 36 “offenses of violence” in Ohio criminal law. The ORC outlines the elements of a domestic violence offense as follows:

Section 2919.25 Domestic Violence

  1. No person shall knowingly cause or attempt to cause physical harm to a family or household member.
  2. No person shall recklessly cause serious physical harm to a family or household member.
  3. No person, by threat of force, shall knowingly cause a family or household member to believe that the offender will cause imminent physical harm to the family or household member.

The ORC outlines the elements of “menacing by stalking” as follows:

Section 2903.211 Menacing by Stalking

(A)

  1. No person by engaging in a pattern of conduct shall knowingly cause another person to believe that the offender will cause physical harm to the other person or a family or household member of the other person or cause mental distress to the other person or a family or household member of the other person. In addition to any other basis for the other person’s belief that the offender will cause physical harm to the other person or the other person’s family or household member or mental distress to the other person or the other person’s family or household member, the other person’s belief or mental distress may be based on words or conduct of the offender that are directed at or identify a corporation, association, or other organization that employs the other person or to which the other person belongs.
  2. No person, through the use of any form of written communication or any electronic method of remotely transferring information, including, but not limited to, any computer, computer network, computer program, computer system, or telecommunication device shall post a message or use any intentionally written or verbal graphic gesture with purpose to do either of the following:
    1. Violate division (A)(1) of this section;
    2. Urge or incite another to commit a violation of division (A)(1) of this section.
  3. No person, with a sexual motivation, shall violate division (A)(1) or (2) of this section.