Minnesota Age of Consent Laws: Statutes, Penalties and Reporting

Minnesota's age-based sexual offenses reach persons under 16 under Minn. Stat. 609.342 to 609.345 (criminal sexual conduct in the first to fourth degrees), with each tier defined by the age difference between the actor and the person (more than 24 or more than 36 months), while persons 16 and 17 are covered where the actor is more than 36 months older and in a current or recent position of authority, or has a significant relationship to them, and separate clauses cover a person under 18 where the actor is in a listed occupational relationship.

To report a concern: if a child is in immediate danger, call 911. The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families states on its official page to call the child protection agency in the county or Tribal Nation where the child lives. The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-422-4453, call or text) can help you figure out where and how to report. Online exploitation can be reported to the NCMEC CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678.

Information last verified on 2026-09-30. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer. It is legal-reference information, not legal advice.

This page covers Minnesota's criminal statutes on sexual offenses involving minors, mainly Minn. Stat. 609.341 to 609.345, with related sections on prostitution involving minors and the solicitation of children. Federal law is summarized on the age of consent laws by state hub. The Revisor of Statutes site displayed the 2025 Minnesota Statutes when the sections below were checked, so 2026 changes are described from the session law.

This page describes the main age-based sexual offense statutes. Other Minnesota statutes also protect minors, and one of them can apply even where none of the offenses described here does.

How Minnesota law protects minors by age

Minnesota grades its offenses in four degrees and defines most age tiers by the number of months by which the actor is older than the person. The table gives an overview of the age-based clauses.

Under 14

Section 609.342 subd. 1a(e) makes sexual penetration with a person "under 14 years of age" first-degree criminal sexual conduct where "the actor is more than 36 months older than the complainant," and section 609.343 subd. 1a(e) does the same for sexual contact in the second degree. Section 609.342 subd. 1a also reaches "sexual contact with a person under 14" as defined in section 609.341 subd. 11(c), which is touching of or by the person's bare genitals or anal opening by bare genitals or anal opening with sexual or aggressive intent, so that contact is first-degree conduct under clause (e). Section 609.344 subd. 1a(a) and section 609.345 subd. 1a(a) cover a person under 14 where the actor is "no more than 36 months older," in the third and fourth degrees. None of these clauses states a minimum age for the actor, and each states that consent is not a defense.

Ages 14 and 15

Section 609.344 subd. 1a(b) makes penetration with a person at least 14 but less than 16 third-degree criminal sexual conduct where the actor "is more than 24 months older than the complainant." Section 609.345 subd. 1a(b) covers contact with a person of the same ages where the actor "is more than 36 months older than the complainant or in a current or recent position of authority over the complainant." Both clauses state that consent by the person is not a defense.

Where the actor is more than 36 months older and is in a current or recent position of authority over a person at least 14 but less than 16, penetration is first-degree conduct (609.342 subd. 1a(f)) and contact is second-degree conduct (609.343 subd. 1a(f)). Each of those clauses states that consent is not a defense.

How the age differences work

In each clause above, the number of months is part of the definition of the offense, so it is an element and not a defense. The differences are 36 months for the under-14 tiers and for contact at 14 and 15, and 24 months for penetration at 14 and 15.

One provision changes only the penalty. Under section 609.344 subd. 2(2), a person convicted under subd. 1a(b) whose age was more than 24 months but no more than 36 months older than the person may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or a fine of not more than $30,000, or both, instead of the 15-year maximum in subd. 2(1). That provision does not change whether the offense was committed, and the statute text controls.

Positions of trust and authority; significant relationships

Minnesota protects persons through age 17 where the actor holds authority, has a defined family or household relationship, or is in a listed occupational relationship.

• Current or recent position of authority. Section 609.341 subd. 10 defines it to include "any person who is a parent or acting in the place of a parent and charged with or assumes any of a parent's rights, duties or responsibilities to a child," or "a person who is charged with or assumes any duty or responsibility for the health, welfare, or supervision of a child, either independently or through another, no matter how brief, at the time of or within 120 days immediately preceding the act." For persons 16 and 17, penetration and contact are third- and fourth-degree offenses where the actor is more than 36 months older and in that position (609.344 subd. 1a(e); 609.345 subd. 1a(e)), and the clauses state that consent is not a defense.
• Significant relationship. Subdivision 15 defines it as the person's parent, stepparent or guardian, a listed relative by blood, marriage or adoption (including a sibling, first cousin, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, grandparent, great-grandparent, great-uncle or great-aunt), an adult who jointly resides intermittently or regularly in the same dwelling, subject to a limit stated in the definition, or an adult who is or was involved in a significant romantic or sexual relationship with the person's parent. For a person under 16, this is first-degree penetration and second-degree contact (609.342 subd. 1a(g); 609.343 subd. 1a(g)); for a person at least 16 but under 18, it is third-degree penetration and fourth-degree contact (609.344 subd. 1a(f); 609.345 subd. 1a(f)). Those clauses state no age difference and state that consent is not a defense.
• Prohibited occupational relationship. Under clause (i) of section 609.344 subd. 1a and section 609.345 subd. 1a, penetration or contact with a person under 18 is third- or fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct where the actor is in a prohibited occupational relationship with the person, as defined in section 609.341 subd. 24. The listed relationships include a psychotherapist and patient, clergy in private spiritual meetings, staff of a juvenile correctional system and a resident, and, where the person is enrolled in a secondary school, a licensed educator employed or contracted to serve that school, a school employee or contractor who is 18 or older and at least 48 months older than the person, or a licensed educator 18 or older and at least 48 months older who serves any elementary, middle or secondary school. For these relationships the definition states that consent is not a defense.
• Aggravated significant-relationship clauses. Clauses (h) of 609.342 and 609.343 and (g) of 609.344 and 609.345 add force or coercion, personal injury or multiple acts over an extended period of time.

Other offenses that protect minors

• Patrons and prostitution involving a minor (Minn. Stat. 609.324 subd. 1): engaging in prostitution with, or hiring or agreeing to hire, an individual under 14 is punishable by up to 20 years or a fine of up to $40,000, or both; an individual at least 14 but under 16 by up to 10 years or $20,000; and an individual at least 16 but under 18 by up to 5 years or $10,000. The same penalties apply to hiring an individual the actor reasonably believes to be in the age range.
• Sex trafficking and promotion involving a minor (Minn. Stat. 609.322 subd. 1): soliciting or inducing an individual under 18 to practice prostitution, promoting the prostitution of, receiving profit from the prostitution of, or engaging in the sex trafficking of, an individual under 18 is punishable by up to 25 years or a fine of up to $50,000, or both, and up to 30 years or $60,000 where listed aggravating factors are present.
• Solicitation of children (Minn. Stat. 609.352): a person 18 or older who solicits a child (defined as a person 15 or younger) or someone reasonably believed to be a child to engage in sexual conduct with intent to engage in sexual conduct, or who, with the intent to arouse the sexual desire of any person, uses electronic means to solicit, communicate about or distribute sexual material to a child, commits a felony punishable by up to 5 years or a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
• Grooming, and authority and school provisions in 609.352 (Laws 2026, chapter 108): for crimes committed on or after August 1, 2026, a person 18 or older who expresses to a child the desire or intent to engage in sexual conduct with the child and engages in a deliberate pattern of conduct to develop a false trusting relationship intended to manipulate the child toward sexual conduct at a future time commits the felony of grooming, whether or not any sexual conduct occurs. New subdivision 2d makes acts under subdivisions 2 to 2c a felony where the person is in a current or recent position of authority, is more than 36 months older, and the victim is under 18, and new subdivision 2e does so where the person is employed or contracted to provide services for an elementary, middle or secondary school and the victim, regardless of age, is enrolled as a student there. Each carries up to 5 years or a fine of up to $10,000, or both.

Penalties

Under section 609.3455 subd. 6, a court committing an offender to the commissioner of corrections for a violation of 609.342, 609.343, 609.344 or 609.345 must provide for a ten-year conditional release term after release from prison, unless a longer term is required. Section 609.3455 also contains life-sentence provisions for listed circumstances that are not summarized here.

Sex offender registration

Under Minn. Stat. 243.166 subd. 1b(a)(1)(iii), a person must register if charged with or petitioned for a felony violation of 609.342, 609.343, 609.344 or 609.345 and convicted or adjudicated delinquent for that offense or another offense arising out of the same circumstances. Under subdivision 6, a person generally continues to comply until ten years have elapsed since initially registering in connection with the offense, or until the probation, supervised release or conditional release period expires, whichever occurs later. Under subdivision 6(d), registration lasts for life for a person required to register based on a conviction under 609.342 subd. 1a clauses (a) to (e) or (h), 609.343 subd. 1a clauses (a) to (e) or (h), 609.344 subd. 1a clauses (a), (c), (g) or (h), or 609.345 subd. 1a clauses (a), (c), (g) or (h), which include every under-14 clause described above, and for a person who has a prior conviction or adjudication for a registrable offense. Subdivision 6 also adds further periods for listed failures to comply and for certain new incarcerations.

Recent changes

Laws 2026, chapter 108 (H.F. 3489), signed May 27, 2026, amended Minn. Stat. 609.352 effective August 1, 2026, for crimes committed on or after that date, as described above. It does not amend sections 609.341 to 609.345. The section histories for 609.342 to 609.345 end with 2021 c 11 art 4, and 609.341 was last amended in 2023. Other 2026 session laws were not searched exhaustively.

How to report

If a child is in immediate danger, call 911. The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families states on its official page to call the child protection agency in the county or Tribal Nation where the child lives. The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-422-4453, call or text) and the NCMEC CyberTipline (report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678) are also available.

Disclaimer

This page is general legal information about Minnesota criminal statutes as verified on 2026-09-30. It is not legal advice. Statutes change, summaries simplify, and the statute text controls. Anyone with a specific situation should consult a lawyer licensed in Minnesota.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does "current or recent position of authority" mean in the Minnesota statutes?

Section 609.341 subdivision 10 defines it to include a parent or person acting in the place of a parent and charged with or assuming any of a parent's rights, duties or responsibilities to a child, or a person charged with or assuming any duty or responsibility for the health, welfare or supervision of a child, either independently or through another, no matter how brief, at the time of or within 120 days immediately preceding the act. The list is not limited to those roles.

What does "significant relationship" mean?

Section 609.341 subdivision 15 lists the person's parent, stepparent or guardian, specified relatives by blood, marriage or adoption, an adult who jointly resides in the same dwelling, subject to a limit stated in the definition, and an adult who is or was involved in a significant romantic or sexual relationship with the person's parent.