(1) A person is guilty of incest when he or she has sexual intercourse or deviate sexual
intercourse, as defined in KRS 510.010, with a person whom he or she knows to be
his or her parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, great-grandparent, great-
grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, brother, sister, first cousin, ancestor, or
descendant. The relationships referred to herein include blood relationships of
either the whole or half blood without regard to legitimacy, relationship of parent
and child by adoption, relationship of stepparent and stepchild, and relationship of
stepgrandparent and stepgrandchild.
(2) (a) Incest is a Class C felony if the act is committed by consenting persons.
(b) Incest is a Class B felony if committed:
1. With a person without his or her consent;
2. By forcible compulsion as defined in KRS 510.010; or
3. With a person who is:
a. Less than eighteen (18) years of age by a person three (3) or more
years older; or
b. Incapable of consent because he or she is physically helpless or
mentally incapacitated as defined in KRS 510.010.
(c) Incest is a Class A felony if committed:
1. With a person who is less than twelve (12) years of age; or
2. With a person without his or her consent causing serious physical injury.
Effective: June 29, 2023
History: Amended 2023 Ky. Acts ch. 108, sec. 1, effective June 29, 2023. -- Amended
2012 Ky. Acts ch. 148, sec. 4, effective July 12, 2012. -- Amended 2006 Ky. Acts
ch. 182, sec. 37, effective July 12, 2006. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 251, sec. 1,
effective July 15, 1994. -- Created 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 406, sec. 258, effective January
1, 1975.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
61
cases (
18 in the last 5 years), 1983–2026 · leading case:
Anderson v. Commonwealth, 63 S.W.3d 135 (Ky. 2001).
Anderson v. Commonwealth, 63 S.W.3d 135 (Ky. 2001).
· cites it 4× “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in a criminal prosecution under KRS Chapter 510 or for attempt or conspiracy to commit an offense defined in KRS Chapter 510, or KRS 530.020, reputation or opinion evidence related to the sexual behavior of an alleged victim is not…”
Miller v. Commonwealth, 391 S.W.3d 857 (Ky. 2013).
· cites it 7× “Incest remains a Class C felony where both parties are consenting adults.”
Dickerson v. Commonwealth, 174 S.W.3d 451 (Ky. 2005).
· cites it 2× “(4) "Sex crime" means a felony offense defined in KRS Chapter 510, KRS 530.020, 530.064, or 531.310, a felony attempt to commit a sex crime, or similar offenses in another jurisdiction.”
Bradford v. Commonwealth, 345 S.W.3d 245 (Ky. Ct. App. 2011).
· cites it 10× “Because we must hold in this case of first impression that the plain language of KRS 530.020, the incest statute, does not apply to a step-grandparent/step-grandchild relationship, we must reverse Bradford’s conviction.”
Wilfong v. Commonwealth, 175 S.W.3d 84 (Ky. Ct. App. 2004).
· cites it 2× “060(3) provides as follows: For any felony specified in KRS Chapter 510, KRS 530.020, 530.064, or 531.310, the sentence shall include an additional three (3) year period of conditional discharge which shall be added to the maximum sentence rendered for the offense.”
Talbott v. Commonwealth, 968 S.W.2d 76 (Ky. 1998).
· cites it 2× “…was not involved, KRS 510.020(2)(a), sexual intercourse between stepparent and stepchild is incest, a class C felony. KRS 530.020.”
Commonwealth v. Rahim, 805 N.E.2d 13 (Mass. 2004).
· cites it 2× “§ 23-102 (1995); Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 530.020 (Lexis 1996); Ky.”
Dennis v. Commonwealth, 156 S.W.3d 759 (Ky. Ct. App. 2004).
· cites it 15× “On August 8, 2002, appellant pled guilty to the three counts of incest, conditioned on his ability to appeal the issue of whether Kentucky’s incest statute, KRS 530.020, prohibits sexual intercourse between a stepparent and stepchild.”
F. v. Brown, 306 S.W.3d 80 (Ky. 2010).
· cites it 3× “170(1) permitted the Department of Corrections to take a DNA sample from “[a]ny person convicted [after the effective date] of a felony offense under KRS Chapter 510 or KRS 530.020.” In 2001, the Court of Appeals in J.”
Raines v. Commonwealth, 379 S.W.3d 152 (Ky. Ct. App. 2012).
· cites it 6× “' At that time, KRS 530.020 stated: (1) A person is guilty of incest when he has sexual intercourse or deviate sexual intercourse, as defined in KRS 510.”
Johnson v. Commonwealth, 292 S.W.3d 889 (Ky. 2009).
· cites it 2× “See KRS 530.020; KRS 510.040. It was not the course of abuse that Appellant inflicted upon his daughters that constituted a prohibited act.”
Castle v. Castle, 567 S.W.3d 908 (Ky. Ct. App. 2019).
“010(6) defines it as "conduct prohibited as any degree of rape, sodomy, or sexual abuse under KRS Chapter 510 or incest under KRS 530.020 [.]" A victim of sexual assault may apply for an IPO.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 530.020(1) — 8 cases
Bradford v. Commonwealth, 345 S.W.3d 245 (Ky. Ct. App. 2011).
“Because we must hold in this case of first impression that the plain language of KRS 530.020, the incest statute, does not apply to a step-grandparent/step-grandchild relationship, we must reverse Bradford’s conviction.”
Dennis v. Commonwealth, 156 S.W.3d 759 (Ky. Ct. App. 2004).
“On August 8, 2002, appellant pled guilty to the three counts of incest, conditioned on his ability to appeal the issue of whether Kentucky’s incest statute, KRS 530.020, prohibits sexual intercourse between a stepparent and stepchild.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 530.020(2) — 3 cases
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 530.020(2)(a) — 1 case
Miller v. Commonwealth, 391 S.W.3d 857 (Ky. 2013).
“Incest remains a Class C felony where both parties are consenting adults.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 530.020(2)(b) — 2 cases
Miller v. Commonwealth, 391 S.W.3d 857 (Ky. 2013).
“Incest remains a Class C felony where both parties are consenting adults.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 530.020(2)(b)(2)(a) — 1 case
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 530.020(2)(c) — 1 case
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.