TORTURES

(Law n ° 96-647 of July 22, 1996 art. 13 Official Journal of July 23, 1996)

(Law n ° 99-505 of June 18, 1999 art. 14 Official Journal of June 19, 1999)

The offense defined in article 222-1 is punished by twenty years of criminal imprisonment when it is committed:
1 ° On a minor of fifteen years;
2 ° On a person whose particular vulnerability, due to his age, to an illness, an infirmity, a physical or mental deficiency or a state of pregnancy, is apparent or known to the perpetrator;
3 ° On a legitimate or natural ascendant or on the adoptive father or mother;
4 ° On a magistrate, a juror, a lawyer, a public or ministerial officer, a member of the gendarmerie, an official of the national police, customs, prison administration, an agent of a transport network operator public travelers or any other person holding public authority or entrusted with a public service mission, in the exercise or on the occasion of the exercise of his functions or his mission, when the quality of the victim is apparent or known to the author;
5 ° On a witness, a victim or a civil party, either to prevent him from denouncing the facts, from filing a complaint or taking legal action, or because of his denunciation,
6 ° By the victim’s spouse or partner;
7 ° By a person holding public authority or entrusted with a public service mission in the exercise or on the occasion of the exercise of his functions or his mission;
8 ° By several persons acting in the capacity of author or accomplice;
9 ° With premeditation;
10 ° With the use or threat of a weapon.
The offense defined in article 222-1 is also punished by twenty years of criminal imprisonment when it is accompanied by sexual assault other than rape.
The penalty incurred is increased to thirty years of criminal imprisonment when the offense defined in article 222-1 is committed against a minor of fifteen years by a legitimate, natural or adoptive ascendant or by any other person having authority over the minor.
The first two paragraphs of article 132-23 relating to the safety period are applicable to the offenses provided for in this article.

(inserted by Law n ° 2001-504 of June 12, 2001 art. 5 Official Journal of June 13, 2001)

Legal persons may be declared criminally responsible under the conditions provided for in article 121-2 for the offenses defined in this paragraph.
The penalties incurred by legal persons are:
1 ° The fine, in accordance with the terms provided for in article 131-38;
2 ° The penalties mentioned in article 131-39.
The prohibition mentioned in 2 ° of article 131-39 relates to the activity in the exercise of which or on the occasion of the exercise of which the offense was committed.