New Utah Law Increases Penalties for Sex Crimes Involving Incapacitated Individuals
Utah’s passage of House Bill 127, known as “Ashley’s Law”, reflects a powerful response to a tragic and deeply impactful case. Advocates and prosecutors argued the law fills a glaring gap in Utah’s sexual offense statutes by imposing much harsher sentences for sex crimes committed against incapacitated adults rendered especially vulnerable due to cognitive, physical, or neurological impairments. Named after Ashley Vigil, a 31-year-old woman with Rett Syndrome who was sexually assaulted by a family member despite being unable to communicate or defend herself, the bill was signed into law on March 26, 2025, and went into effect on May 7th, 2025.
What is HB 127?
HB 127 constitutes a substantial overhaul of Utah’s penal code relating to sexual offenses committed against incapacitated individuals. Before this law, the mandatory minimum term for offenses like rape, object rape, and forcible sodomy stood at five years to life, a range that allowed considerable sentencing discretion. Since this law doesn’t just affect rape cases, it is important to understand what are the other types of sex crimes where these enhanced penalties are applicable.
Under Utah law, object rape occurs when an individual, without the victim’s consent, penetrates the genital or anal opening of another person using any object or foreign instrument. Forcible sodomy is defined as engaging in oral or anal sexual intercourse with another person without their consent, accomplished through force, or when the victim is incapable of consent due to age, mental incapacity, or physical helplessness.
HB 127 doubles the minimum term for these offenses when the victim is legally incapacitated, mandating a decade-long minimum sentence to life, with limited room for reduced penalties. The law also upgrades the classification of these crimes. Prior sanctions could vary in felony degree, but HB 127 ensures that any sexual crime against a defined incapacitated adult now constitutes a first-degree felony. The result is a clearer legal framework for convicting and sentencing offenders in cases where victims are incapable of consenting, resisting, or protecting themselves.
How Will this Law Change Sex Crime Cases?
Before HB 127, offenders could receive sentences as low as five years, and in rare instances, probation, for sexually assaulting an incapacitated adult. Now, anyone convicted of such crimes must serve at least ten years in prison. Judges retain limited discretion, but only if they explicitly state that reducing a sentence serves justice, a much higher threshold than before.
For example, if a caregiver assaults a non-verbal adult with dementia, the crime now carries a mandatory minimum of ten years in prison. Similarly, if someone commits object rape against a cognitively impaired teenager unable to report the assault, the sentence is no less than ten years and the offense is automatically treated as a first-degree felony. These changes reflect a fundamental shift in how Utah law prosecutes and punishes sexual crimes against incapacitated victims.
What is Considered an "Incapacitated Individual” Under Utah Law?
Utah Code § 76‑5‑402 explicitly defines an “incapacitated individual” as a person aged 14 or older who suffers from an intellectual, physical, neurological, or cognitive disease or defect, and who, due to that condition, is unable to meet at least two critical capacities: to understand the nature of sexual activity, to resist it, or to report it. Precise statutory language states that the individual must be impaired in at least two of these areas to qualify.
Legally incapacitated individuals include adults with profound intellectual disabilities, severe forms of dementia, advanced neurological disorders, or developmental conditions that hinder cognitive processing or communication. For example, adults with Rett Syndrome (like Ashley Vigil), or those with traumatic brain injuries that render them unaware or defenseless, clearly fall under this classification.
Several other disorders and medical conditions can render a person an “incapacitated individual” under Utah law because they impair two or more of the statutory capacities, understanding sexual activity, resisting it, or reporting it. One such category is advanced Alzheimer’s disease and other severe dementias. Individuals with these conditions often experience profound memory loss, disorientation, and confusion about their surroundings. This cognitive decline can make it impossible for them to comprehend what sexual activity is or that it is occurring.
Severe intellectual disabilities, such as those found in individuals with certain forms of Down syndrome or Fragile X syndrome, can also meet the statutory definition. While intellectual disability exists on a spectrum, severe forms often limit a person’s reasoning ability, judgment, and capacity to process complex or abstract concepts. This can prevent them from understanding the nature of sexual contact or its consequences. Such vulnerabilities create a heightened risk that an abuser could manipulate or coerce the person without immediate detection.
Late-stage Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis (MS) can likewise cause incapacitation under the statute. These conditions, in advanced stages, may result in significant physical disability coupled with cognitive decline. Even if the individual can cognitively grasp what is happening, the physical symptoms, such as severe tremors, muscle rigidity, or paralysis, can prevent them from physically resisting an attack.
Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors are another group that often qualifies as incapacitated individuals. Depending on the area of the brain affected, TBIs can cause memory loss, impulsivity, confusion, and loss of executive functioning. This not only hinders a victim’s ability to understand or consent to sexual activity but can also make them vulnerable to suggestion or manipulation. In many cases, TBI patients struggle to articulate experiences clearly, which can delay reporting or make disclosure impossible without outside intervention.
Determining if an Individual is Incapacitated in Court
To prove someone is incapacitated, prosecutors typically rely on medical records, expert testimony, or accounts from caregivers and witnesses who can describe the person’s limitations at the time of the alleged offense. Evidence may include psychological evaluations or documentation of conditions that limit comprehension and communication. The goal is to show that the victim lacked the ability to understand, resist, or consent during the incident.
Defense attorneys often challenge this by arguing that the individual retained enough capacity to consent. They may present evidence of independence in daily life, such as employment or financial management, or call experts to dispute the severity of the impairment. They may also scrutinize the timing of evaluations or claim the victim demonstrated comprehension and agency in other relationships. These strategies aim to create reasonable doubt about whether the legal standard for incapacity was truly met.
Grey Areas and Challenges to this Law
The law raises complex questions in borderline cases. For example, an individual with Down syndrome may appear high-functioning, able to work, communicate, and live with some independence, yet still lack the ability to fully grasp the risks or meaning of sexual activity. In such cases, prosecutors may argue that despite outward independence, the person’s developmental disorder prevents genuine consent. Defense attorneys, however, may emphasize autonomy, pointing to the individual’s ability to make choices in other parts of life as evidence of capacity.
These situations highlight the tension between protecting vulnerable individuals from exploitation and respecting their autonomy. Courts must weigh expert testimony, evidence of daily functioning, and the circumstances of the alleged offense to decide whether a person truly met the legal definition of incapacitated. While HB 127 strengthens protections, it also leaves judges and juries to navigate these difficult gray areas.
Some would argue that these types of laws actually do damage to some individual’s personal autonomy, rather than protecting them. Certain intellectual disabilities like down syndrome, while presenting difficulties in the individual's life, still doesn’t completely prevent the individual from making their own decisions. Laws like these work to dissuade people from engaging in romantic or sexual relationships with anyone who has a cognitive disability. Now, preventing that type of activity has generally positive benefits when the individual is mentally disabled to the point they cannot understand these aspects of their life. However, situations do arise where these impaired individuals are on the high functioning side of the spectrum of their disorder, and express a desire for personal autonomy, which includes sexual choices. In these instances, the high functioning individual could feel as if this law actually prevents them from being able to form connections- either romantic or sexual, with others, due to people being afraid of receiving consequences if the individual is deemed too incapacitated to understand what consent is.
Hire a Sex Crimes Attorney in Utah
If you or a loved one has been charged with Sexual abuse of an Incapacitated Individual, or any other Sex Crime in Salt Lake City, or the surrounding areas in Utah, it is important to hire a criminal defense attorney immediately. Susanne Gustin can provide the legal assistance you need to ensure your case is in the right hands, and you will be getting the best representation that you deserve.
Call (801) 243-2814 to request a free consultation.
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