R.I. Gen. Laws
Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-37-3 (2026)

Penalty for first degree sexual assault

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section RI-LEGwebserver.rilegislature.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Every person who shall commit sexual assault in the first degree shall be imprisoned for a period not less than ten (10) years and may be imprisoned for life.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 28 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1980–2024 · leading case: State v. Gardiner, 895 A.2d 703 (R.I. 2006).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
State v. Gardiner, 895 A.2d 703 (R.I. 2006). · cites it 7× “*707 1956] § 11-37-2 and § 11-37-3." [7] After a six-day trial, a jury returned a guilty verdict on June 26, 2003.”
Doe v. Brown Univ., 166 F. Supp. 3d 177 (D.R.I. 2016). “§ 11-37-3. . That said, the Court agrees with many of Brown's criticisms of Plaintiff’s Complaint.”
State v. Quattrocchi, 681 A.2d 879 (R.I. 1996). · cites it 2× “119, § 1, and § 11-37-3. Following the verdict of the jury, the trial justice sentenced the defendant to two concurrent sentences of sixty years, with forty years to serve and twenty years' probation to follow his release on each count.”
State v. Barnes, 559 A.2d 136 (R.I. 1989). · cites it 4× “That, THEODORE BARNES, alias John Doe, of Providence County, on or about the 28th day of November, 1985, at Providence, in the County of Providence, did engage in sfexual penetration with , by force and coercion, in violation of §11-37-2 'and §11-37-3 of the General Laws of…”
Liu v. Striuli, 36 F. Supp. 2d 452 (D.R.I. 1999). · cites it 2× “§ 11-1-2 (defining felonies as crimes punishable by imprisonment for more than one year).”
State v. McDonald, 602 A.2d 923 (R.I. 1992). · cites it 2× “Section 11-37-3 provides the penalty for first-degree sexual assault as not less than ten years and a maximum of imprisonment for life.”
State v. McKenna, 512 A.2d 113 (R.I. 1986). · cites it 3× “119, § 1 and § 11-37-3. 1 The case was tried before a justice of the Superior Court sitting with a jury that returned a verdict of guilty against the defendant.”
State v. Jose Rivera, 64 A.3d 742 (R.I. 2013). · cites it 3× “”); § 11-37-5 (“Every person who shall commit sexual assault in the second degree shall be imprisoned for not less than three (3) years and not more than fifteen (15) years.”
Brown v. State, 841 A.2d 1116 (R.I. 2004). “119, § 1 and § 11-37-3. Counts 4 through 6 alleged that between May 4, 1984 and April 12, 1985, he engaged in sexual penetration with a person under thirteen-years old in violation of §§ 11-37-8.”
State v. Waite, 484 A.2d 887 (R.I. 1984). · cites it 2× “Count 1 charged Raymond Waite with “sexual penetration with [victim] in violation of § 11-37-2 and § 11-37-3 of the General Laws of Rhode Island, 1956, as amended, (Reenactment of 1981).”
State v. Kelly, 554 A.2d 632 (R.I. 1989). “355, § 1, and § 11-37-3. We vacate the conviction and remand the case to the Superior Court for a new trial.”
State v. Contreras-Cruz, 765 A.2d 849 (R.I. 2001). “Here, the state charged defendant with “engag[ing] in sexual penetration, to wit, sexual intercourse with [the victim], knowing [the victim] was physically helpless, in violation of § 11-37-2 and § 11-37-3.” Section 11-37-2(1) states that: “[a] person is guilty of first degree…”
Show all 28 citing cases →
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.