Texas Penal Code Sexual Assault of a Child: Penalties & Defenses

Under the Texas Penal Code, sexual assault of a child is a second-degree felony under Section 22.011, punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The charge can escalate to a first-degree felony, to aggravated sexual assault, or to continuous sexual abuse of a young child, each carrying much harsher penalties and, in some cases, no possibility of parole. Every conviction under these statutes also triggers lifetime sex offender registration.

What Conduct the Statute Covers

Section 22.011(a)(2) makes it a crime to intentionally or knowingly engage in specific sexual acts with a child. The prohibited conduct centers on penetration and sexual contact:

Penetration of the child’s anus or sexual organ by any means, including an object or body part
Penetration of the child’s mouth by the actor’s sexual organ
Causing the child’s sexual organ to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of any person, including the actor
Causing the child’s anus or mouth to contact the sexual organ or anus of another person

The statute is gender-neutral and does not distinguish between male and female actors or victims. The phrase “by any means” reaches beyond sexual organs to objects and other body parts.¹ Each distinct act can be charged as a separate count, so one incident involving multiple forms of contact can produce multiple felony charges.

Who Counts as a Child

For purposes of Section 22.011, a “child” is anyone younger than 17 at the time of the offense.¹ The child’s willingness or apparent maturity does not matter. A person under 17 cannot legally consent to the acts described in the statute.

Mistake about age is also not a defense. The statute expressly applies “regardless of whether the person knows the age of the child,” which means an honest belief that a minor was older will not prevent a conviction. The burden of confirming age sits entirely with the adult.

The Close-in-Age Affirmative Defense

Texas recognizes a narrow affirmative defense, sometimes called the Romeo and Juliet provision, that can prevent a conviction in certain peer relationships. It applies only when all of the following are true:

The actor was no more than three years older than the victim.
The victim was at least 14 at the time of the offense.
The actor was not already required to register as a sex offender and had no prior reportable conviction for sexual assault.
The actor and victim were not in a relationship prohibited under Texas incest or bigamy laws.

Because this is an affirmative defense, the defendant carries the burden of proving these conditions at trial. It does not prevent arrest or indictment; it is raised during the case.¹ A 19-year-old with a 15-year-old could raise it. A 20-year-old with a 15-year-old could not, because the age gap is too large. The defense is never available when the victim is younger than 14.

Penalties for a Second-Degree Felony Conviction

Sexual assault of a child is ordinarily a second-degree felony. The punishment range is:

2 to 20 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
A fine of up to $10,000

Judges set the sentence within that range based on the evidence, the defendant’s criminal history, and other circumstances presented at trial or sentencing.²

The offense becomes a first-degree felony when the victim was someone the actor was legally prohibited from marrying or having sexual relations with under Texas incest or bigamy statutes. The range then jumps to 5 to 99 years or life in prison.¹

When the Charge Becomes Aggravated Sexual Assault

Section 22.021 creates a separate, more severe offense when aggravating circumstances are present. The charge becomes aggravated sexual assault if:

The child was younger than 14 at the time of the offense.
The actor caused serious bodily injury or attempted to kill the victim.
The actor used or displayed a deadly weapon.
The actor placed the victim in fear of death, serious injury, or kidnapping.
The actor administered a substance to impair the victim’s ability to resist or understand what was happening.
The actor acted in concert with another person who also engaged in prohibited conduct against the same victim during the same episode.

Aggravated sexual assault is a first-degree felony, punishable by 5 to 99 years or life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.³⁴

The 25-Year Mandatory Minimum

Some aggravated cases carry a mandatory minimum of 25 years. That floor applies when the victim was younger than 10, or when the victim was younger than 14 and the actor committed the offense using violence, threats, weapons, or drugging as listed above.³ These cases also eliminate parole eligibility, as discussed below.

Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Young Child

When abuse is a pattern rather than a single incident, Section 21.02 allows a still more serious charge. Continuous sexual abuse of a young child requires proof that the actor, who must be 17 or older, committed two or more acts of sexual abuse against a child younger than 14 over a period of at least 30 days.⁵

Qualifying acts include sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, indecency with a child by contact, sexual performance by a child, and certain trafficking and kidnapping offenses. The jury does not have to agree unanimously on which specific acts occurred or when. Jurors need only agree that at least two qualifying acts happened within a 30-day-or-longer window.

This offense is a first-degree felony with a minimum sentence of 25 years and a maximum of 99 years or life. The 25-year floor is built into the statute itself and does not depend on additional aggravating facts.⁵ A defendant cannot be charged with multiple counts of continuous sexual abuse if all the alleged acts were committed against a single victim.

Parole Restrictions

Parole rules for these convictions are strict and vary by offense. For a conviction under Section 22.021, the offender must serve actual calendar time equal to half the sentence or 30 years, whichever is less, before becoming parole-eligible. Good conduct time does not count. Someone sentenced to 40 years would need to serve 20 actual years before the parole board could even consider release.⁶

Parole is not available at all for the “super aggravated” cases that carry the 25-year mandatory minimum under Section 22.021, or for continuous sexual abuse convictions under Section 21.02. Those offenders serve the full sentence.

No Statute of Limitations

Texas imposes no statute of limitations on several sexual offenses against children. Sexual assault of a child under Section 22.011, aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.021, indecency with a child, and continuous sexual abuse of a young child are all listed among offenses with no limitation period under Article 12.01 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.⁷ Charges can be filed at any time, even decades after the conduct. A victim who comes forward as an adult can still trigger a viable prosecution, though the passage of time can make proof more difficult in practice.

Lifetime Sex Offender Registration

A conviction under Section 22.011, Section 22.021, or Section 21.02 is a reportable conviction under Chapter 62 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, which requires the offender to register as a sex offender for life.⁸ Registration requires the offender to provide personal information, including home address, employment details, and vehicle information, to local law enforcement. Verification is every 90 days for those classified as sexually violent predators and once a year for other lifetime registrants.

The registry is publicly accessible. Residency restrictions limit where registered individuals can live, particularly near schools and childcare facilities, and employment options narrow considerably. Failing to comply with any registration requirement is itself a second-degree felony when the underlying offense involved a child, carrying the same 2-to-20-year prison range as the original conviction.⁸

1
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 22.011 – Sexual Assault
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.33 – Second Degree Felony
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 22.021 – Aggravated Sexual Assault
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.32 – First Degree Felony Punishment
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 21.02 – Continuous Sexual Abuse of Young Child or Disabled Individual
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State of Texas. Texas Government Code 508.145 – Eligibility for Release on Parole; Computation of Parole Eligibility Date
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State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 12.01 – Felonies
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State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 62 – Sex Offender Registration Program