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Dixon v. State

The defendant was entitled to the lessor of two punishments under the rule of lenity because the two statutes-misdemeanor statutory rape and felony child molestation-are in conflict.

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A Floyd County jury convicted Marcus Dwayne Dixon of misdemeanor statutory rape and aggravated child molestation, but acquitted him of rape, false imprisonment, aggravated assault, and sexual battery.1 Dixon appeals only his conviction for aggravated child molestation. Because we find that the General Assembly intended to punish Dixon’s conduct as misdemeanor statutory rape rather than child molestation, we reverse Dixon’s conviction for aggravated child molestation. The State alleged that on February 10, 2003, Dixon forcibly raped the victim after school in a trailer on the campus of Pepperrell High School. At the time, the victim was 15 years old, in 10th grade, and less than three years younger than Dixon, who was 18 years old and in 12th grade. The defense claimed that the sexual intercourse was consensual and that the victim fabricated the rape story to avoid trouble with her father. The victim sustained slight vaginal injuries, and there was also evidence of bruising on the victim’s arms.

Although the jury acquitted Dixon of rape, this means only that the State failed to prove the element of force beyond a reasonable doubt, and not that the activity was wholly consensual.

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