Sex in Hawaii: Age of Consent, Assault Degrees, and Registration

Sex laws in Hawaii set the age of consent at 16, divide sexual assault into four degrees, and reach a wide range of related conduct: prostitution and sex trafficking, child exploitation material, nonconsensual sharing of intimate images (including AI-generated ones), indecent exposure, and open lewdness. Penalties run from 30 days in jail for a petty misdemeanor to 20 years in prison for the most serious felonies, and certain convictions trigger sex offender registration that can last for life.

Age of Consent and the Close-in-Age Rule

The general age of consent in Hawaii is 16. Below that, the rules split by age.

Sexual penetration with anyone under 14 is automatically first-degree sexual assault, a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The age gap between the two people does not matter.¹

For 14- and 15-year-olds, Hawaii applies a five-year close-in-age allowance. Sexual contact or penetration with a person in this age range is a crime only if the older person is at least five years older and the two are not legally married. Sexual contact under those conditions is third-degree sexual assault; sexual penetration is first-degree sexual assault.²¹ A 19-year-old with a 15-year-old falls outside the statute. A 20-year-old with a 15-year-old does not.

Authority Figures and 16- or 17-Year-Olds

Reaching 16 does not open every door. Anyone in a professional role that supervises, instructs, or advises a 16- or 17-year-old commits fourth-degree sexual assault by engaging in sexual contact with that minor, provided the adult is at least five years older. Teachers, coaches, and counselors are the typical examples.³

The Four Degrees of Sexual Assault

Hawaii sorts sexual assault into four degrees. The degree turns on the act itself, how it was accomplished, and the vulnerability of the person harmed.

First Degree

First-degree sexual assault covers sexual penetration by force or threat, penetration of anyone under 14, penetration of a 14- or 15-year-old by someone at least five years older, and penetration of a person who is mentally incapacitated or physically helpless because a substance was given without their consent.¹ It is a Class A felony with a mandatory 20-year indeterminate sentence; the court cannot suspend the sentence or grant probation.⁴

Second Degree

Second-degree sexual assault reaches sexual penetration by lesser forms of compulsion, and penetration of someone mentally incapacitated or physically helpless without the aggravating factors that would push the offense into the first degree.⁵ It is a Class B felony, up to 10 years in prison.⁶

Third Degree

Third-degree sexual assault is broader than the name suggests. It covers reckless sexual penetration by compulsion, knowing sexual contact with a minor under 16 (subject to the five-year age gap), and sexual contact by strong compulsion.² It is a Class C felony, up to five years in prison.⁶

Fourth Degree

Fourth-degree sexual assault is a misdemeanor. It reaches unwanted sexual contact by compulsion, exposing genitals in a way likely to alarm or frighten someone, trespassing to surveil someone for sexual gratification, and sexual contact by a professional supervisor with a 16- or 17-year-old.³ A misdemeanor conviction can bring up to one year in jail.⁷

Nonconsensual Intimate Images and Deepfakes

Sharing or threatening to share someone’s nude or sexual images without their consent is a Class C felony under HRS 711-1110.9, titled “violation of privacy in the first degree.” Maximum penalty: five years in prison.⁸

The statute requires an intent element. The person sharing must intend substantial harm to the depicted person’s health, safety, career, finances, reputation, or relationships, or must be acting out of revenge. Images of someone who was voluntarily nude in public, or who participated in a commercial transaction, are excluded.⁸

The same felony applies to AI-generated and digitally manipulated sexual images. Creating or sharing a fabricated image that uses the recognizable physical characteristics of a real person to make it appear they are nude or engaged in sexual conduct is covered, as long as the intent-to-harm element is met.⁸

Prostitution and Sex Trafficking

Prostitution is a petty misdemeanor. A person commits the offense by engaging in, agreeing to, or offering sexual conduct for a fee or anything of value. A first offense carries a mandatory $500–$1,000 fine and up to 30 days in jail. Later offenses carry the same fine plus a mandatory 30-day jail sentence, and the court cannot defer proceedings or suspend the sentence. When the person charged is a minor, the offense is downgraded to a violation. A prostitution charge is dropped if the defendant reports to law enforcement that they were trafficked.⁹

Paying for sexual services within 750 feet of a school or public park is a separate misdemeanor under HRS 712-1209.¹⁰

Sex trafficking sits at the other end of the scale. Under HRS 712-1202, using force, threats, fraud, coercion, or intimidation to compel someone into prostitution, or profiting from that coercion, is a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Trafficking a minor is a strict-liability offense as to age: it does not matter whether the trafficker knew the victim was under 18.¹¹

Child Exploitation Material and Minor Sexting

Hawaii uses three tiers for child exploitation material, which the code calls “promoting child abuse.” The tier depends on whether a person produced, distributed, or possessed the material.

Production is first-degree promoting child abuse, a Class A felony carrying up to 20 years in prison.¹²⁴
Distribution, or possessing 30 or more images with certain aggravating content such as images of children under 12 or sadomasochistic abuse, is second-degree promoting child abuse, a Class B felony carrying up to 10 years in prison.¹³
Knowing possession is third-degree promoting child abuse, a Class C felony carrying up to five years in prison.¹⁴

Minors who share nude images of themselves or other minors face a separate and far less severe charge: promoting minor-produced sexual images in the second degree, a petty misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail. Adults who possess images that a minor originally shared under this provision face the same petty misdemeanor charge, but may raise an affirmative defense by showing they took reasonable steps to destroy the images.¹⁵

Indecent Exposure and Open Lewdness

Both offenses are petty misdemeanors, each punishable by up to 30 days in jail.⁷

Indecent exposure under HRS 707-734 requires intentionally exposing the genitals to someone the person is not married to, under circumstances likely to cause affront.¹⁶ Breastfeeding is separately protected under Hawaii’s anti-discrimination law and is not covered.¹⁷

Open lewdness under HRS 712-1217 is broader, reaching any lewd act performed in a public place that others are likely to observe and find alarming or offensive. It is not limited to genital exposure.¹⁸ The two charges can overlap, and prosecutors pick based on the conduct.

What Counts as “Pornographic”

Hawaii defines pornographic material through a three-part test under HRS 712-1210 that tracks the U.S. Supreme Court’s framework in Miller v. California (1973). Material is pornographic only if all three of these are true: the average person applying community standards would find it appeals to prurient interest, it depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, and it lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.¹⁹ Material with genuine artistic or political value is protected regardless of how sexually explicit it is.

Sex Offender Registration

A conviction for a covered sex offense triggers registration with the attorney general under HRS Chapter 846E. The requirement also reaches anyone who moves to Hawaii, or visits for more than 10 days (or a cumulative 30 days in a calendar year), and was required to register in another state.²⁰

Registration is in person, with the local chief of police, within three working days of the earliest triggering event: release from incarceration, arrival in the state, conviction (if the person is not incarcerated), or placement on probation or parole.²⁰

Duration is set by tier:

Tier 3 offenses, including first-degree sexual assault by force and second-degree sexual assault of an incapacitated person, require lifetime registration. A Tier 3 registrant may petition for termination after 40 years from release or sentencing.
Tier 2 registrants may petition to end registration after 25 years with a clean record.
Tier 1 registrants may petition after 10 years with a clean record.

Repeat offenders register for life regardless of tier.²¹ Failing to comply with the registration rules is itself a Class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.²²

1
Justia. Hawaii Code 707-730 to 707-738 – OLD Sexual Assault Statutes
2
Justia. Hawaii Code 707-732 – Sexual Assault in the Third Degree
3
Justia. Hawaii Code 707-733 – Sexual Assault in the Fourth Degree
4
Justia. Hawaii Code 706-659 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Class A Felony
5
Justia. Hawaii Code 707-731 – Sexual Assault in the Second Degree
6
Justia. Hawaii Code 706-660 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Class B and C Felonies
7
Justia. Hawaii Code 706-663 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Misdemeanor and Petty Misdemeanor
8
FindLaw. Hawaii Revised Statutes 711-1110.9 – Violation of Privacy in the First Degree
9
Justia. Hawaii Code 712-1200 – Prostitution
10
Justia. Hawaii Code 712-1209 – Commercial Sexual Exploitation Near Schools or Public Parks
11
Justia. Hawaii Code 712-1202 – Sex Trafficking
12
Justia. Hawaii Code 707-750 – Promoting Child Abuse in the First Degree
13
Justia. Hawaii Code 707-751 – Promoting Child Abuse in the Second Degree
14
Justia. Hawaii Code 707-752 – Promoting Child Abuse in the Third Degree
15
Office of the Attorney General, State of Hawaii. Internet Safety – Sexting
16
Justia. Hawaii Code 707-734 – Indecent Exposure
17
Justia. Hawaii Code 489-21 – Discriminatory Practices Breastfeeding
18
FindLaw. Hawaii Revised Statutes 712-1217 – Open Lewdness
19
Justia. Hawaii Code 712-1210 – Definitions of Terms in This Part
20
Justia. Hawaii Code 846E-2 – Registration Requirements
21
FindLaw. Hawaii Revised Statutes 846E-10 – Termination of Registration Requirements
22
Justia. Hawaii Code 846E-9 – Failure to Comply With Covered Offender Registration Requirements