It's Not Illegal to Have Sex With a Dead Person in Massachusetts

CHARLENE ARSENAULT (Patch Staff)

We’d all be getting in a heck of a lot more trouble if all of the laws still on the books were enforced.

According to dumblaws.com, there are laws still in Massachusetts that ban targets that look like humans in shooting ranges, giving beer to hospital patients or adding tomatoes to chowder. Quakers and witches are banned, bullets can’t be used in place of dollar bills and if you’re going to snore, you’ve got to close the bedroom window.

With all those laws on the books controlling residents’ behavior, you might assume it would be a given that necrophilia would not only be discouraged, but also come with a punishment.

Well, you’d be wrong.

A Massachusetts lawmaker wants to change that.

State Rep. Aaron Vega, D-Holyoke, has introduced an act that would outlaw necrophilia, with the guilty punishable of up to 20 years in prison. Chapter 272 of Massachusetts General Laws would be amended to include, “Whoever has sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse with the dead body of a human being shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 20 years or by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than 2 ½ years.”

Rep. Vega told Masslive, “I was really taken aback there wasn’t a law against this,” adding that it’s something no one wants to talk about, but needs to be addressed.

As the law currently stands, it is more difficult to charge the suspect with rape if it occurs after a victim has died, said Masslive.

Twenty-eight states have laws that address necrophilia, with varying degrees of severity. While it is a felony in Mississippi, Nevada, Washington, DC, and many others, the crime is a misdemeanor in Hawaii and Minnesota.