New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) announced that he helped the Assembly pass legislation to amend New York State law by removing the requirement that penetration be proven to establish a rape charge and adding forced oral and anal sexual conduct to the current definition of rape (A.3339-A).

“All sexual assaults are heinous,” said Assemblyman Thiele. “Rape is rape. This legislation would empower victims by treating them equally in the eyes of the law.”

Current law defines the crime of rape only in cases of vaginal penetration. This legislation would amend the law to remove the penetration requirement from the statute, which equalizes the standards for rape and what is currently defined as a “criminal sexual act.” This legislation also redefines rape to include not just forced sexual intercourse, but forced oral or anal sexual conduct as well.

“We should not be telling sexual assault survivors that their experience was different, or lesser, than the experience of someone else based on the way crimes are defined in state law,” said Assemblyman Thiele.

Thiele noted that this legislation is consistent with a recent change to federal law which included other types of sexual assault not previously thought to be rape.