Sex By Fraud Isn't Rape

In Suliveres v. Commonwealth, the Supreme Judicial Court held yesterday that "intercourse where consent is achieved by fraud does not constitute rape." In Suliveres, the Commonwealth had alleged that the woman believed she was having sex with her boyfriend, when in fact it was her boyfriend's brother. This decision upheld the court's 1959 decision in Commonwealth v. Goldenberg, 338 Mass. 377, which held that "it is not rape when consent to sexual intercourse is obtained through fraud or deceit." They then called on the Legislature to amend the rape statute, G. L. c. 265, § 22, if they felt that sex through fraud should be categorized as rape. See Mass. Law About Rape for links to this and other rape laws.