# Crime and Policing Act 2026, Section 115: Sexual activity with a corpse

Extent: E+W

(1) In the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for section 70 substitute—
“Sexual activity with a corpse
70 (1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person intentionally performs an act of touching (with a part of their body or anything else),
(b) what is touched is a part of the body of a dead person,
(c) the person knows that, or is reckless as to whether, that is what is touched, and
(d) the touching is sexual.
(2) A person who commits an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the general limit in a magistrates’ court or a fine (or both);
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding—
(i) if the touching involved penetration of a part of the body mentioned in subsection (1)(b), 7 years;
(ii) otherwise, 5 years.”
(2) In consequence of the amendment made by subsection (1), in the following provisions for “sexual penetration of” substitute “sexual activity with”—
paragraph 152 of Schedule 15 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003;
paragraphs 35 and 92 of Schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003;
paragraph 33 of Schedule 4 to the Modern Slavery Act 2015;
paragraph 38(ba) of Schedule 18 to the Sentencing Code.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/20/section/115 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/crime-and-policing-act-2026/section-115
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.