(University of Oregon School of Law, 2020-01-18) Cumming, Scott
The common-law “apparent consent” standard has been criticized for allowing offenders to escape liability for sexual assault when the victim was too intoxicated or scared to say “no.” This Comment analyzes how Oregon’s “abuse of a vulnerable person” statute could apply to such cases—namely, civil cases in which the plaintiff was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance, and she was unable to express her nonconsent or consciously perceive the assault, due to intoxication or underlying trauma (i.e., “date rape” cases).
