They say that all is fair in love and war, but that little adage does not apply when it comes to Oklahoma statutory rape laws. Typically, people think of statutory rape as otherwise consensual sex that occurs between an adult and a minor too young to provide legal consent. However, statutory rape and sex crimes can also occur between two otherwise consenting adults under certain aspects of state law.

It is a detail which a former mail clerk with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC) is finding out the hard way.

Terry Dianne Katz, 55, has been charged with forcible oral sodomy and sexual battery after an encounter with a Department of Corrections inmate while she was working at DOC headquarters in Oklahoma City. A co-worker allegedly overheard Katz telling another person that she performed oral sex on the 35-year-old prisoner, who was working maintenance on the facility. The co-worker reported the incident to authorities.

Investigators say Katz admitted to the act, and she was fired from her job and criminally charged in Oklahoma County District Court.

Clearly, a 35-year-old man is well over the legal age of consent in Oklahoma, but state laws forbid sex between certain parties, regardless of age, when one person is in a position of authority over another. 

Second degree rape, or statutory rape, is an act of sexual intercourse that occurs between two individuals when one is unable to provide legal consent due to age, mental illness, or custodial status. When oral sex is performed on or by a person legally unable to consent, the crime with which the defendant is charged is forcible oral sodomy. Forcible sodomy is defined under 21 O.S. § 888 as "the detestable and abominable crime against nature":

  • by a person over the age of 18 upon a person under the age of 16
  • committed upon a person unable to provide legal consent due to "unsoundness of mind," regardless of the age of the perpetrator
  • accomplished through force, violence, or the threat of force or violence accompanied by the apparent power to carry through on the threat
  • committed by an employee of a state, county, municipal or political subdivision upon a person who is under the legal custody, supervision or authority of such an agency
  • committed upon a student aged 16-20 by an employee aged 18 or older of the same school system in which the student is enrolled

Forcible sodomy is a felony punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison.

It seems clear that this law is designed to prevent an abuse of power by someone in authority, particularly in the state's schools and prisons. But is a mail clerk really in a position of authority over a DOC inmate serving seven years for a drug possession conviction? Her actions may be considered unethical and immoral, but it seems a stretch to consider them criminal until one looks at the letter of the law. Under state law, she is facing serious time and a felony conviction that could have a negative impact on her future employment opportunities, gun possession rights, voting rights, and more collateral consequences.