In Texas, sexual assault is a specific crime, defined under Texas Penal Code § 22.011 as intentional, nonconsensual penetration or sexual contact. It is a second-degree felony. Sexual misconduct is broader and is not defined by a single statute. It covers conduct like harassment, unwanted touching, or coercion that may fall short of that criminal threshold but still causes real harm and can support a civil claim under Texas law.
Many survivors get stuck trying to label what happened before they feel ready to act. You don’t have to sort out the legal category. Crowe Arnold & Majors, LLP has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for survivors across Texas. Our firm can explain how Texas defines sexual assault and walk you through what your case could look like. We take every case on contingency: you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
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How Texas Law Defines Sexual Assault
As noted above, Texas Penal Code Section 22.011 defines sexual assault as intentionally or knowingly causing nonconsensual penetration, or causing certain nonconsensual sexual contact between the parties involved. Courts focus on consent, not the relationship between the people involved or how the encounter started.
The statute lists the specific circumstances that make an act nonconsensual, including physical force, threats, incapacitation, and exploitation of a position of trust, such as by a caregiver, clergy member, health care provider, or employee of a facility where the victim resides.
Texas classifies sexual assault as a second-degree felony, elevated to a first-degree felony in specific circumstances that the statute identifies. Prosecutors can pursue charges even when the people involved knew each other or were previously intimate.
How Texas Law Defines Sexual Misconduct
Sexual misconduct is not a term defined in the Texas Penal Code. It is a broader, catch-all term that schools, universities, and employers use in their own policies to describe unwanted sexual behavior, some of which overlaps with specific Texas criminal offenses and some of which is addressed only through civil or administrative channels.
Examples of Sexual Misconduct
Conduct that falls under this umbrella may not meet the criminal standard for sexual assault, but still violates a person’s boundaries. That can look like:
- Harassment, such as unwelcome sexual comments, jokes, or advances that create a hostile work or school environment
- Unwanted touching that stops short of penetration, which Texas separately criminalizes as indecent assault under Penal Code Section 22.012
- Voyeurism, such as a coworker or classmate secretly recording someone in a bathroom, locker room, or changing area
- Coercive control or harassment, Coercion, coercive control, or harassment, such as a supervisor or professor who makes a promotion, grade, or opportunity contingent on sexual favors. This can cross into criminal sexual assault when the coercion involves force, threats, or a relationship the statute recognizes as a position of trust.
Title IX Obligations in Schools
In schools, Title IX, a federal law rather than a Texas statute, requires the institution to investigate complaints of sexual misconduct. Schools that look the other way can face civil liability of their own.
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Criminal Penalties: How They Differ
Texas classifies sexual assault as a second-degree felony, punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Prosecutors can elevate certain cases to a first-degree felony with a longer sentence. Prosecutors generally must bring adult sexual assault charges within 10 years of the offense.
However, a criminal conviction is not required to pursue civil compensation. Survivors can file a civil claim under Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.0045 independent of whether the state ever brings charges or secures a conviction.
Sexual Misconduct Claims
Sexual misconduct is addressed through the institution through its own policies or a civil claim, rather than through a criminal charge, unless the specific conduct independently violates a criminal statute.
A school can suspend or expel the person found responsible following a Title IX investigation. An employer can terminate a supervisor or manager who abused their authority over an employee. A licensing board can suspend a professional license.
None of that forecloses a survivor’s separate civil claim for damages, which is often the real financial consequence institutional discipline alone does not provide.
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Your Civil Legal Options Under Each Classification
Sexual assault survivors have 5 years from the date of the assault to file a civil claim under Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.0045, or until their 48th birthday if the abuse occurred in childhood.
In B.C. v. Steak N Shake Operations, the Texas Supreme Court held that a workplace sexual assault claim can proceed as a common law claim separate from a sexual harassment claim. That matters because harassment claims filed under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA) can be capped as low as $300,000, while common law assault claims generally aren’t.
Because civil and criminal cases can overlap, survivors benefit from understanding the difference between civil and criminal sexual assault in Texas and meeting with our legal team before deciding how to move forward.
“People often assume that if something doesn’t rise to the level of a criminal sexual assault charge, they have no legal options. That’s not true under Texas law. Sexual misconduct and sexual assault can both support a civil claim, and survivors deserve to understand which path applies to them”
–Crowe Arnold & Majors, LLP
Sexual Abuse and Sexual Misconduct Claims Against Schools and Universities
A Title IX claim targets the school itself, not the individual who committed the harassment or abuse, and it follows Texas’s standard 2-year personal injury deadline regardless of whether the underlying conduct was misconduct or sexual assault. We can pursue money damages against a school under Title IX for deliberate indifference to known harassment or abuse, in addition to a separate claim against the perpetrator.
A survivor may be pursuing two claims on two different clocks at once: two years for the Title IX claim against the school, and five years, or until age 48 if the abuse occurred in childhood, for the separate claim against the perpetrator.
Sexual Misconduct Claims at the Workplace
Sexual misconduct claims run on different, often shorter clocks. A workplace sexual harassment claim under the TCHRA requires filing an administrative complaint with the Texas Workforce Commission’s Civil Rights Division or the EEOC within 300 days of the harassment, followed by a lawsuit within 2 years of that filing. A sexual misconduct in the workplace in Texas attorney can walk you through how this could apply to your case.
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You do not have to determine on your own whether what happened qualifies as misconduct or assault. Schedule a free, confidential consultation with Crowe Arnold & Majors, and an attorney will evaluate the facts and explain your options in plain terms.
You are entitled to know your rights as a survivor under Texas sexual assault law, and to make that decision with a clear understanding of what the law allows. The firm takes every case on contingency, so there is no fee unless we recover on your behalf.
