Virginia’s crimes against nature statute, Virginia Code § 18.2-361, is far narrower today than its reputation suggests. The old blanket ban on oral and anal sex was struck down and removed from the code, and what remains criminalizes only two things: bestiality and certain sex acts between close family members. Depending on the subsection and the victim’s age, a conviction is a Class 6, Class 5, or Class 3 felony, and it can trigger mandatory sex offender registration.1Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-361 – Crimes Against Nature; Penalty
What the Statute Covers Today
Section 18.2-361 has three subsections. Subsection A makes it a Class 6 felony to have sexual contact with an animal or to voluntarily submit to such contact. Subsection B makes it a Class 5 felony to perform or cause oral or anal sex acts with a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, or sister. Subsection C defines those family terms broadly, so step-parents, step-grandparents, step-children, and step-grandchildren are treated the same as biological relatives.1Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-361 – Crimes Against Nature; Penalty
The penalty escalates when the family relationship crosses generations and involves a teenager. A parent or grandparent who commits any such act with a child or grandchild who is at least 13 but younger than 18 is guilty of a Class 3 felony.1Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-361 – Crimes Against Nature; Penalty
Nothing in the current statute criminalizes oral or anal sex between unrelated consenting adults. That language used to be the centerpiece of the law, and its absence is deliberate.
Penalties by Category
Bestiality
A Class 6 felony carries one to five years in prison. A judge or jury also has discretion to reduce the sentence to up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500, or both.2Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-10 – Punishment for Conviction of Felony; Penalty Class 6 is the only Virginia felony class where actual time served can look like a misdemeanor.
Incest-Related Acts, Baseline
The Class 5 felony that applies to oral or anal sex acts between qualifying family members carries one to ten years in prison. It also allows the same fallback: up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500, at the discretion of the judge or jury.2Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-10 – Punishment for Conviction of Felony; Penalty
Parent or Grandparent With a Minor Aged 13 to 17
This is the most serious version of the offense. The Class 3 felony carries five to twenty years in state prison, and there is no option to reduce the sentence to jail time.2Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-10 – Punishment for Conviction of Felony; Penalty Sentencing within that range is guided by the Virginia Sentencing Guidelines, but years in prison are guaranteed.
Why Consensual Adult Conduct Is No Longer Covered
For most of the statute’s history, § 18.2-361 made it a felony for any person to engage in oral or anal sex with another person, with no exception for consent, privacy, or marriage. The old language covered anyone who “carnally knows any male or female person by the anus or by or with the mouth.”3U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. MacDonald v. Moose
In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Lawrence v. Texas that laws criminalizing private consensual sexual conduct between adults violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.4Justia. Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) Virginia left the old wording in place for another decade, and prosecutors continued using it in some cases. That ended in 2013, when the Fourth Circuit ruled in MacDonald v. Moose that Virginia’s anti-sodomy provision was facially unconstitutional because it prohibited sodomy between two persons “without any qualification.”3U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. MacDonald v. Moose Virginia later amended the statute to remove the unconstitutional language.
If you or a family member has an old conviction under the former sodomy provision for consensual adult conduct, the legal ground under that conviction has shifted completely.
Forcible Sodomy Is a Different Statute
People searching for “crimes against nature” often expect § 18.2-361 to cover non-consensual oral or anal sex. It does not. That conduct falls under Virginia Code § 18.2-67.1, the forcible sodomy statute, which applies when the act is accomplished through force, threats, or intimidation, when the victim is mentally incapacitated or physically helpless, or when the victim is younger than 13.
Forcible sodomy carries confinement for life or any term of at least five years. If the victim is under 13, mandatory minimums kick in: 25 years when the offense was committed alongside abduction, burglary, or malicious wounding, and a mandatory life sentence if the offender was 18 or older at the time of the act.5Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-67.1 – Forcible Sodomy The gap between the two statutes is large. Section 18.2-361 tops out at twenty years. Section 18.2-67.1 can reach life.
Sex Offender Registration
A conviction under § 18.2-361 requires registration on the Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry when the victim is a minor, physically helpless, or mentally incapacitated. Registration is tiered. A first qualifying conviction is a Tier I offense. Two or more qualifying offenses push the offender into Tier III, the most restrictive category.6Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 9.1-902 – Offenses Requiring Registration
Registration is not automatically permanent for everyone, but the path off the registry is narrow. A person with a single Tier I offense can petition a circuit court for removal, but only after 15 years have passed since the initial registration date or the last conviction for a registry violation or any felony, whichever is later. A single Tier II offense requires a 25-year wait. Anyone convicted of a Tier III offense, two or more registrable offenses, or murder must register for life with no petition option.7Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Chapter 9 – Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry Act – Section 9.1-908 Approval of a removal petition still depends on convincing a judge.
Registration also brings federal travel obligations. Under International Megan’s Law, registrants must notify their local registry at least 21 days before any international trip, and offenders classified as “covered sex offenders” by the federal Angel Watch Center have a notation printed inside their passport books.8U.S. Marshals Service. International Megan’s Law Complaint Form for Traveling Sex OffendersPassports and Covered Sex Offenders Under International Megan’s Law
Consequences Beyond the Sentence
The formal sentence is only one layer. A felony conviction under § 18.2-361 shows up on background checks that professional licensing boards run for healthcare, education, law, and real estate, among other fields. Boards handle these decisions case by case, but a felony sex offense is one of the harder convictions to survive in a licensing hearing.
Housing is the other pressure point. Many Virginia localities impose residency restrictions on registered offenders, private landlords routinely screen against the public registry, and some federal housing assistance programs may be unavailable. These consequences last well past the end of any prison term.