New Hampshire Age of Consent Laws: Statutes and Reporting

A person is guilty of a class B felony if such person: I. Subjects a person to sexual contact and causes serious personal injury to the victim under any of the circumstances named in RSA 632-A:2; or II. Engages in sexual penetration with a person who is 13 years of age or older and under 16 years of age where the age difference between the actor and the other person is 4 years or more; or III. (a) Engages in sexual contact with a person: (1) Who is under 13 years of age. (2) Thirteen years of age or older and under 18 years of age when the actor is in a position of authority over the victim and is more than 4 years older than the victim. (3) When the actor is an employee, contractor, or volunteer at a primary or secondary educational institution and the victim is a student and up to 10 months after the student's graduation or departure. (b) Consent of the victim under any of the circumstances set forth in subparagraph (a) shall not be considered a defense. IV.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

Also relied on in: Age of Consent Laws by State: Statutes, Protections and Reporting, New Hampshire Sexting Laws: Legal Consequences and Penalties

I. A person is guilty of the felony of aggravated felonious sexual assault if such person engages in sexual penetration with another person under any of the following circumstances: (a) When the actor overcomes the victim through the actual application of physical force, physical violence or superior physical strength. (b) When the victim is physically helpless to resist. (c) When the actor coerces the victim to submit by threatening to use physical violence or superior physical strength on the victim, and the victim believes that the actor has the present ability to execute these threats. (d) When the actor coerces the victim to submit by threatening to retaliate against the victim, or any other person, and the victim believes that the actor has the ability to execute these threats in the future. (e) When the victim submits under circumstances involving false imprisonment, kidnapping or extortion. (f) When the actor, without the prior knowledge or consent of the victim, administers or has knowledge of another person administering to the victim any intoxicating substance which mentally incapacitates the victim.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

I. A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor under any of the following circumstances: (a) When the actor subjects another person who is 13 years of age or older to sexual contact under any of the circumstances named in RSA 632-A:2. (b) When the actor subjects another person who is 13 years of age or older and under 16 years of age to sexual contact where the age difference between the actor and the other person is 5 years or more. (c) In the absence of any of the circumstances set forth in RSA 632-A:2, when the actor engages in sexual penetration with a person who is 13 years of age or older and under 16 years of age where the age difference between the actor and the other person is 4 years or less. II. A person found guilty under subparagraph I(c) of this section shall not be required to register as a sexual offender under RSA 651-B. III.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

Also relied on in: New Hampshire Court Records: How to Search the Case Access Portal, What's Public, and How Annulment Works, New Hampshire Expungement Laws: How Record Annulment Works Under RSA 651:5

Any physician, surgeon, county medical examiner, psychiatrist, resident, intern, dentist, osteopath, optometrist, chiropractor, psychologist, therapist, registered nurse, hospital personnel (engaged in admission, examination, care and treatment of persons), Christian Science practitioner, teacher, school official, school nurse, school counselor, social worker, day care worker, any other child or foster care worker, law enforcement official, priest, minister, or rabbi or any other person having reason to suspect that a child has been abused or neglected shall report the same in accordance with this chapter.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

I. (a) It is a class A felony to knowingly compel a person against his or her will to perform a service or labor, including a commercial sex act or a sexually-explicit performance, for the benefit of another, where the compulsion is accomplished by any of the following means: (1) Causing or threatening to cause serious harm to any person. (2) Confining the person unlawfully as defined in RSA 633:2, II, or threatening to so confine the person. (3) Abusing or threatening abuse of law or legal process. (4) Destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or otherwise making unavailable to that person any actual or purported passport or other immigration document, or any other actual or purported government identification document. (5) Threatening to commit a crime against the person. (6) False promise relating to the terms and conditions of employment, education, marriage, or financial support. (7) Threatening to reveal any information sought to be kept concealed by the person which relates to the person's legal status or which would expose the person to criminal liability. (8) Facilitating or controlling the person's access to an addictive controlled substance.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

Also relied on in: New Hampshire Statute of Limitations: Filing Deadlines by Case Type

I. A person is guilty of a class B felony if he or she marries or engages in sexual penetration as defined in RSA 632-A:1, V, or lives together with, under the representation of being married, a person 18 years or older whom he or she knows to be his or her ancestor, descendant, brother, or sister, of the whole or half blood, or an uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece; provided, however, that no person under the age of 18 shall be liable under this section if the other party is at least 3 years older at the time of the act. The relationships referred to herein include blood relationships without regard to legitimacy, stepchildren, and relationships of parent and child by adoption. II. In cases of alleged incest where the victim is under the age of 18 when the alleged offense occurred, the statute of limitations shall run pursuant to RSA 625:8, III(d). III. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph I, a person convicted of incest where the victim is under the age of 18 shall be sentenced to a maximum sentence which is not to exceed 20 years and a minimum which is not to exceed 1/2 the maximum.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

I. A person is guilty of endangering the welfare of a child or incompetent if he knowingly endangers the welfare of a child under 18 years of age or of an incompetent person by purposely violating a duty of care, protection or support he owes to such child or incompetent, or by inducing such child or incompetent to engage in conduct that endangers his health or safety. II. In the prosecution of any person under this section, the tattooing or branding by any person of a child under the age of 18 constitutes endangering the welfare of such child. II-a. In the prosecution of any person under this section, the placement of a child for adoption or the attempt to place a child for adoption in violation of RSA 170-B:33 constitutes endangering the welfare of such child. III. In the prosecution of any person under this section, the solicitation by any person of a child under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity as defined by RSA 649-A:2, III for the purpose of creating a visual representation as defined in RSA 649-A:2, IV, or to engage in sexual penetration as defined by RSA 632-A:1, V, constitutes endangering the welfare of such child. III-a.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

Also relied on in: New Hampshire AI Laws and Regulation (2026), New Hampshire Car Seat Laws (2026): Ages & Penalty

I. A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if: (a) Such person fornicates, exposes his or her genitals, or performs any other act of gross lewdness under circumstances which he or she should know will likely cause affront or alarm; or (b) Such person knowingly transmits to another, who is 16 years of age or older, an image of himself or herself fornicating, exposing his or her genitals, or performing any other act of gross lewdness, when the recipient does not consent to receipt of the image. II. A person is guilty of a class B felony if: (a) Such person, under circumstances that may be reasonably construed as being for the purpose of sexual gratification or arousal, purposely fornicates, exposes his or her genitals, or performs any other act of gross lewdness knowing that a child who is less than 16 years of age is present. (b) Such person purposely performs any act of sexual penetration or sexual contact on himself or herself or another in the presence of a child who is less than 16 years of age.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

Also relied on in: New Hampshire Pornography Laws (2026): Obscenity, AV Bill, CSAM, New Hampshire Background Check Laws (2026 Guide)

I. A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if the person: (a) Solicits, agrees to perform, or engages in sexual contact as defined in RSA 632-A:1, IV or sexual penetration as defined in RSA 632-A:1, V, in return for consideration; or (b) Induces or otherwise purposely causes another to violate subparagraph (a); or (c) Transports another into or within this state with the purpose of promoting or facilitating such other in engaging in conduct in violation of subparagraph (a); or (d) Not being a legal dependent incapable of self support, knowingly is supported in whole or in part by the proceeds of violation of subparagraph (a); or (e) [Repealed.] (f) [Repealed.] I-a. A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if the person pays, agrees to pay, or offers to pay another person to engage in sexual contact as defined in RSA 632-A:1, IV or sexual penetration as defined in RSA 632-A:1, V, with the payor or with another person. II.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

I. No person shall knowingly: (a) Buy, procure, possess, or control any visual representation of a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct; or (b) Bring or cause to be brought into this state any visual representation of a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct. II. An offense under this section shall be a class A felony if such person has had no previous convictions in this state or another jurisdiction for the conduct prohibited by paragraph I. Upon conviction of an offense under this section based on an indictment alleging that the person has been previously convicted of an offense under this section or a reasonably equivalent offense in another jurisdiction, the defendant may be sentenced to a maximum sentence not to exceed 20 years and a minimum sentence not to exceed 1/2 of the maximum sentence. III.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

Also relied on in: New Hampshire Deepfake Laws: AI Images, Voice Cloning & Penalties (2026)

I. No person shall knowingly: (a) Compile, enter into, or transmit by means of computer; (b) Make, print, publish, or reproduce by other computerized means; (c) Cause or allow to be entered into or transmitted by means of computer; or (d) Buy, sell, receive, exchange, or disseminate by means of computer, any notice, statement, or advertisement, or any minor's name, telephone number, place of residence, physical characteristics, or other descriptive or identifying information, for purposes of facilitating, encouraging, offering, or soliciting sexual conduct of or with any child, or the visual depiction of such conduct. II. Any person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a class B felony.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

I. No person shall knowingly utilize a computer on-line service, internet service, or local bulletin board service to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child or another person believed by the person to be a child, to commit any of the following: (a) Any offense under RSA 632-A, relative to sexual assault and related offenses. (b) Indecent exposure and lewdness under RSA 645:1. (c) Endangering a child as defined in RSA 639:3, III. II. (a) A person who violates the provisions of paragraph I shall be guilty of a class A felony if such person believed the child was under the age of 13, otherwise such person shall be guilty of a class B felony. (b) A person convicted under paragraph I based on an indictment alleging that the person has been previously convicted of an offense under this section or a reasonably equivalent offense in an out-of-state jurisdiction shall be charged as a class A felony. If the indictment also alleges that the person believed that the child was under the age of 13, the person may be sentenced to a maximum sentence not to exceed 20 years and a minimum sentence not to exceed 10 years.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

I. A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if he commits obscenity when, with knowledge of the nature of content thereof, he: (a) Sells, delivers or provides, or offers or agrees to sell, deliver or provide, any obscene material; or (b) Presents or directs an obscene play, dance or performance, or participates in that portion thereof which makes it obscene; or (c) Publishes, exhibits or otherwise makes available any obscene material; or (d) Possesses any obscene material for purposes of sale or other commercial dissemination; or (e) Sells, advertises or otherwise commercially disseminates material, whether or not obscene, by representing or suggesting that it is obscene. II. A person who commits any of the acts specified in subparagraphs (a) through (e) of paragraph I with knowledge that such act involves a child in material deemed obscene pursuant to this chapter is guilty of: (a) A class B felony if such person has had no prior convictions in this state or another state for the conduct described in this paragraph; (b) A class A felony if such person has had one or more prior convictions in this state or another state for the conduct described in this paragraph. III.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-09-14 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

In this chapter: I. "Department" means the department of safety. II. "Division" means the division of state police, department of safety. III. "Local law enforcement agency" means the chief of police in the city or town where the person resides or is temporarily domiciled, or, if the municipality has no police chief or if the person resides in an unincorporated place, the division. IV. "Sexual offender" means a person who is required to register for any sexual offense. V. "Sexual offense" means the following offenses, including an accomplice to, or an attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit, any of the following offenses, where the victim was 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense: (a) Capital murder, RSA 630:1, I(e); first degree murder, RSA 630:1-a, I(b)(1); aggravated felonious sexual assault, RSA 632-A:2; felonious sexual assault, 632-A:3; sexual assault, 632-A:4, I(a) or RSA 632-A:4, III; violation of privacy, RSA 644:9, I(a) or RSA 644:9, III-a; or a second or subsequent offense within a 5-year period for indecent exposure and lewdness, RSA 645:1, I.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov

I. All tier II or tier III offenders shall be registered for life. II. All tier I offenders shall be registered for a 10-year period from the date of release, provided that any such registration period shall not run concurrently with any registration period resulting from a subsequent violation or attempted violation of an offense for which the person is required to register. III. (a)(1) Except as provided in paragraph V, all tier III offenders shall remain on the public list contained in RSA 651-B:7 for life. (2) A tier II offender may petition the superior court to have his or her name and information removed from the public list. The petition shall not be filed prior to the completion of all the terms and conditions of the sentence and in no case earlier than 15 years after the date of release. The petition shall be accompanied by a risk assessment prepared by a qualified psychiatrist or psychologist at the offender's expense.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at gc.nh.gov