What Louisiana Law
Actually Says

Louisiana Revised Statutes § 14:41 defines rape as anal, oral, or vaginal sexual intercourse committed without the person's lawful consent.

For vaginal or anal intercourse, the statute says any sexual penetration, however slight, is sufficient; emission is not required. The statute separately defines oral sexual intercourse.

The degree of rape depends on the circumstances proved. The two provisions most directly relevant to an adult campus sexual-assault investigation are second degree rape under § 14:42.1 and third degree rape under § 14:43.

Louisiana's third degree rape statute contains several independent routes. One applies when the victim is incapable of resisting or understanding the nature of the act because of a stupor or abnormal condition of mind produced by an intoxicating agent or any other cause, and the offender knew or should have known of the incapacity.

Another applies when the victim is temporarily or permanently incapable of understanding the act because of unsoundness of mind and the offender knew or should have known of that incapacity.

The statute also separately covers circumstances in which the offender acts without the consent of the victim. Physical force is therefore not a universal element of third degree rape.

Section 14:42.1 defines second degree rape to include intercourse without lawful consent when the victim is prevented from resisting by force or threats of physical violence under circumstances where the victim reasonably believes resistance would not prevent the rape.

The statute also covers incapacity produced by a narcotic, anesthetic, or other controlled dangerous substance administered by the offender without the victim's knowledge.

Louisiana law expressly says references to “forcible rape” and “second degree rape” refer to the same criminal offense. But LSU's administrative label “Sexual Assault - Forcible Rape” does not, by itself, establish that every element of criminal § 14:42.1 has been proved.

The statute defining third degree rape includes a route based simply on the offender acting without the victim's consent. It does not say the victim must utter a particular word or phrase.

Other statutory routes focus on incapacity: whether the victim could resist or understand the nature of the act and whether the offender knew or should have known of that incapacity.

Second degree rape contains a separate force-or-threats route in which the victim is prevented from resisting. Which provision matters depends on the evidence and the theory prosecutors evaluate.

Section 14:43.1 addresses intentional touching of the anus or genitals of the victim by the offender, or of the offender by the victim, directly or through clothing, under the circumstances listed in the statute.

One of those circumstances is that the offender acts without the consent of the victim.

Sexual battery is distinct from the rape statutes because the elements focus on specified sexual touching rather than the intercourse definitions in § 14:41.

Code of Evidence Article 412 generally excludes reputation or opinion evidence about a victim's past sexual behavior in a prosecution involving sexually assaultive conduct.

Specific prior sexual behavior is also generally excluded, with limited statutory exceptions. One exception can permit evidence of prior sexual behavior with the accused when offered on the issue of consent, but the law requires a written in-camera motion before such evidence may be offered.

Article 412.1 separately says the manner and style of a victim's attire is not admissible to show that the victim encouraged or consented to the offense.

Kendall Francis has said she underwent a sexual-assault examination after the alleged incident. Forensic evidence from an examination can be important, but Louisiana's rape statutes define offenses through the sexual act, consent, incapacity, force, threats, and other specified circumstances.

Sections 14:41, 14:42.1, 14:43, and 14:43.1 do not make a DNA result a universal statutory prerequisite.

What evidence is sufficient in any criminal prosecution depends on the complete record and the particular charge. Medical evidence, testimony, digital evidence, witness evidence, contemporaneous statements, forensic evidence, and other proof can all be evaluated.

LSU PM-73 uses a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard for responsibility: whether the charge is more likely supported than not. The policy provides for investigation, hearings, written findings, sanctions, and appeal.

A criminal prosecution requires the state to prove every element of a charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

WAFB reported that LSU's process found the student-athlete responsible for sexual assault and forcible rape and that the responsibility finding survived appeal. That administrative result is significant, but it is not a criminal conviction and does not itself compel a prosecutor to file a specific criminal charge.

Louisiana law requires institutions to provide alleged victims with separate reporting options, including reporting to the institution and reporting to local law enforcement. It expressly describes the institutional disciplinary process as limited in scope and not a substitute for the criminal justice process.

Louisiana also protects an alleged victim's identity, unless confidentiality is waived in writing, subject to defined exceptions that include disclosure to law enforcement when necessary to conduct a criminal investigation.

At the same time, institutions and local criminal-justice agencies must maintain a written memorandum of understanding defining investigative responsibilities, communication, and evidence preservation.

Section 17:3399.12 defines a responsible employee broadly as an institutional employee who receives a direct statement regarding or witnesses an incident of power-based violence, subject to exceptions for confidential advisors and privileged communications.

Section 17:3399.13 then requires that responsible employee to promptly report the incident to the institution's Title IX Coordinator. If known, the report includes the identities of the alleged victim and alleged perpetrator, the type of alleged violence, and information about witnesses, location, date, and time.

WAFB reported that LSU's Title IX office did not receive the initial police report until December 2025, nearly two months after the alleged October 18 incident. Whether any particular employee violated § 17:3399.13 would depend on facts such as what that employee directly received or witnessed, the employee's legal status, and whether an exception applied.

Section 17:3399.13.1 requires the Title IX Coordinator to submit written incident reports to the chancellor by October 10 and April 10 each year.

The reports must address investigations, dispositions of disciplinary processes, matters where the institution did not initiate discipline, retaliation complaints, and other required information.

That statutory framework is why LSU's Spring 2026 Title IX report and April 2026 power-based-violence report are important primary sources in Kendall's case: they preserve anonymized case-level and aggregate data from the period covering her complaint.

Section 17:3399.13.4 says the identity of an alleged victim in a report made under the campus accountability law is confidential unless the alleged victim waives confidentiality in writing.

The statute lists limited disclosure situations, including disclosures necessary for an institutional investigation or hearing, to law enforcement when necessary for a criminal investigation, to the accused as required by law, and to necessary witnesses.

The same statute gives the alleged victim the right to obtain a copy of any report made under this Part that pertains to that victim.

Section 17:3399.15 requires institutions to designate trained confidential advisors who explain an alleged victim's rights, institutional and law-enforcement reporting options, the campus disciplinary process, the criminal-justice process, and available accommodations.

The statute specifically contemplates changes to living arrangements or class schedules and other reasonable accommodations. It also requires information about where a sexual-assault forensic examination can be obtained and allows a confidential advisor to assist with reporting when directed by the alleged victim.

The statute requires an amnesty policy for a student who reports power-based violence in good faith, so the student is not sanctioned for a related nonviolent conduct violation such as underage drinking.

It also requires a victims' rights policy with a process through which a victim may petition to have a perpetrator of power-based violence barred from attending a class in which the victim is enrolled.

Section 17:3399.14 requires each institution and relevant law-enforcement and criminal-justice agencies in the parish, including campus police and the local District Attorney's Office, to enter into and maintain a written memorandum of understanding.

The agreement must delineate investigative responsibilities and establish protocols for notification, communication, evidence preservation, training, and information sharing consistent with confidentiality law.

The law also makes clear that nothing in the statutory framework prevents a victim or responsible employee from making a complaint to both the institution and a law-enforcement agency.

LSU PM-73 lists possible student sanctions including warning, disciplinary probation, deferred suspension, suspension, expulsion, social restrictions, limited presence on campus, and other measures.

PM-73 also allows an appeal to challenge specified issues, including whether the sanctions imposed were inappropriate. WAFB reported that the appeal in Kendall's case left the responsibility finding in place but changed the sanction from a suspension to four semesters of disciplinary probation without restrictions.

Louisiana's administrative-reporting law requires institutions to report whether findings resulted in discipline or corrective action and what action was taken, but the statutes cited on this page do not establish an automatic expulsion rule for every institutional sexual-assault finding.

The Campus Accountability and Safety Act provides immunity for a person acting in good faith who reports or assists in investigating an incident of power-based violence, or who participates in a related disciplinary or judicial proceeding, subject to statutory limits.

Section 17:3399.13.5 separately prohibits an institution from disciplining, discriminating against, or otherwise retaliating against an employee or student who makes a good-faith required report or cooperates with an investigation, disciplinary process, or judicial proceeding related to that report.

These protections do not immunize a person from consequences for their own alleged perpetration of power-based violence.

Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 571 provides no time limitation for instituting a prosecution for second degree rape.

Under current Article 573.4, third degree rape has a ten-year period that does not begin to run until the crime is discovered by the victim. Article 572 also establishes general felony limitation periods and exceptions.

Kendall's alleged assault occurred in October 2025 and the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney opened a criminal review in September 2026. Whatever offense prosecutors ultimately evaluate, the public timeline is nowhere near an ordinary expiration period.