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MARYLAND : Rape/Molestation Statutes of Limitation

In the state of Maryland, a person commits first-degree rape if:

he engages in vaginal intercourse with another by force, or the threat of force, without the consent of the other; and

a. employs or display a dangerous weapon, or a physical object that the victim reasonably believes is a dangerous weapon;

b. suffocates, strangles, disfigures, or inflicts serious physical injury on the victim or another in the course of committing the crime;

c. threatens, or places the victim in fear, that the victim, or an individual known to the victim, imminently will be subject to death, suffocation, strangulation, disfigurement, serious physical injury, or kidnapping;

d. commits the crime while aided and abetted by another; or

e. commits the crime in connection with a burglary in the first, second, or third degree.

f. is over the age of 18 and his victim is 13 years of age or under.

A person commits second-degree rape if he engages in vaginal intercourse with another:

1. by force, or the threat of force, without the consent of the other;

2. and the victim is a mentally defective individual, a mentally incapacitated individual, or a physically helpless individual, and the person performing the act knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a mentally defective individual, a mentally incapacitated individual, or a physically helpless individual; or

3. and the victim is under the age of 14 years, and the person performing the act is at least 4 years older than the victim.

A person commits first-degree sexual offense if:

he engages in a sexual act with another by force, or the threat of force, without the consent of the other; and

a. employs or display a dangerous weapon, or a physical object that the victim reasonably believes is a dangerous weapon;

b. suffocates, strangles, disfigures, or inflicts serious physical injury on the victim or another in the course of committing the crime;

c. threatens, or places the victim in fear, that the victim, or an individual known to the victim, imminently will be subject to death, suffocation, strangulation, disfigurement, serious physical injury, or kidnapping;

d. commits the crime while aided and abetted by another; or

e. commits the crime in connection with a burglary in the first, second, or third degree.

f. is over the age of 18 and his victim is 13 years of age or under

A person commits second-degree rape if he engages in a sexual act with another:

1. by force, or the threat of force, without the consent of the other;

2. and the victim is a mentally defective individual, a mentally incapacitated individual, or a physically helpless individual, and the person performing the act knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a mentally defective individual, a mentally incapacitated individual, or a physically helpless individual; or

3. and the victim is under the age of 14 years, and the person performing the act is at least 4 years older than the victim.

There is no statute of limitations for first or second-degree rape, first or second-degree sexual offense, in the state of Maryland.

Bob rapes Jane. As a resident of Maryland, there is no time limit within which Jane must seek charges against Bob.

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