Sex by Impersonation Is Not Rape When the Woman Is Unmarried: CA Court

A defendant who told police that the woman he awakened for sex likely mistook him for her boyfriend is not guilty of rape, a California appeals court ruled.

California's Second District Court of Appeal ruled sex by impersonation is not rape when the woman is unmarried. The court outlined the issue this way:

"A man enters the dark bedroom of an unmarried woman after seeing her boyfriend leave late at night, and has sexual intercourse with the woman while pretending to be the boyfriend. Has the man committed rape? Because of historical anomalies in the law and the statutory definition of rape, the answer is no."