Indecent assault under Texas Penal Code § 22.012 makes non-consensual sexual touching — groping, in plain terms — a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to one year in county jail and a $4,000 fine, with felony grades for repeat offenders and certain treatment providers. A conviction does not require sex-offender registration. Below: the statute’s exact elements, the full punishment ladder, the defenses that actually move these cases, and how the charge plays out in Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant County courts.
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Published 2026-06-11 · Reviewed by Reggie London and Njeri London, Co-Founding Partners · Last reviewed: 2026-06-11
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Controlling statute:Texas Penal Code § 22.012 — Indecent Assault Classification: Class A misdemeanor; state jail felony (prior conviction or provider cases); third-degree felony (repeat provider cases) Punishment range: Up to 1 year county jail + $4,000 fine (Class A); 180 days–2 years state jail + $10,000 (state jail felony); 2–10 years prison + $10,000 (third-degree felony). No sex-offender registration.
What Is Indecent Assault Under Texas Law?
Indecent assault is Texas’s groping statute. Penal Code § 22.012 makes it a Class A misdemeanor to engage in any of four kinds of sexual contact with another person without that person’s consent and with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person. The Legislature created the offense in 2019 — Senate Bill 194, 86th Legislature, chapter 955, effective September 1, 2019 — to close a charging gap that had frustrated prosecutors and complainants for decades.
Before September 1, 2019, unwanted groping of an adult that involved no penetration generally fit only one box: offensive-contact assault under § 22.01(a)(3), a Class C misdemeanor punished by a fine of up to $500 and nothing more. Sexual assault under § 22.011 requires penetration or specified oral contact, so the conduct in between — a grab at a bar, a hand under clothing during a rideshare, an unwanted sexual touch on a massage table — carried traffic-ticket-level consequences. Section 22.012 moved that conduct to a jailable offense.
The statute reaches four categories of conduct, each committed without consent and with sexual intent:
Touching the anus, breast, or any part of the genitals of another person — § 22.012(a)(1);
Touching another person with the anus, breast, or any part of the genitals of any person — § 22.012(a)(2);
Exposing or attempting to expose another person’s genitals, pubic area, anus, buttocks, or female areola — § 22.012(a)(3); or
Causing another person to contact the blood, seminal fluid, vaginal fluid, saliva, urine, or feces of any person — § 22.012(a)(4).
Two later features matter. First, the 88th Legislature amended the statute in 2023 (House Bill 55, chapter 659, effective September 1, 2023) to add felony grades aimed at health care and mental health providers who commit the offense during treatment. Second, § 22.012(c) expressly provides that when the same conduct violates another law, the State may prosecute under this section, the other law, or both — a both-prosecutions clause that shapes how DFW prosecutors stack companion charges.
What Are the Penalties for Indecent Assault in Texas?
The base offense is a Class A misdemeanor — the most serious misdemeanor grade in Texas, one step below a felony. The 2023 amendment added two enhancement tracks under § 22.012(b): one for repeat offenders, one for treatment providers. The full ladder:
Scenario
Classification
Confinement
Maximum fine
Base offense — § 22.012(b)
Class A misdemeanor
Up to 1 year in county jail (Penal Code § 12.21)
$4,000
Prior conviction under § 22.012 — § 22.012(b)(1)(A)
State jail felony
180 days to 2 years in a state jail facility (§ 12.35)
$10,000
Health care or mental health provider, act committed during treatment and beyond generally accepted practices — § 22.012(b)(1)(B)
State jail felony
180 days to 2 years in a state jail facility (§ 12.35)
$10,000
Repeat provider offense — § 22.012(b)(2)
Third-degree felony
2 to 10 years in prison (§ 12.34)
$10,000
Last reviewed
2026-06-11
Community supervision is available across the ladder. Most first-time defendants are probation-eligible, and deferred adjudication under Code of Criminal Procedure chapter 42A is frequently on the table for the Class A grade. For the state jail felony grades, Penal Code § 12.44 sometimes allows state-jail conduct to be punished — or, with the prosecutor’s consent, prosecuted — as a Class A misdemeanor, a lever defense lawyers use to keep a felony off the record.
Elements the State Must Prove
To convict under § 22.012, the State must prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt. The offense breaks into four working parts:
1. A prohibited act
One of the four conduct prongs: touching the complainant’s intimate parts, touching the complainant with intimate parts, exposure or attempted exposure, or causing contact with bodily fluids. The charging instrument must allege a specific prong, and the proof at trial must match it.
2. Without the other person’s consent
Unlike sexual assault — where § 22.011(b) lists specific circumstances that legally negate consent — § 22.012 does not define “without consent.” Prosecutors rely on the complainant’s testimony and surrounding circumstances, which means the defense can put genuine, factual consent squarely before the jury.
3. Intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire
A specific-intent mental state. The Amarillo Court of Appeals framed the elements this way in Castro v. State, 717 S.W.3d 928 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2025): the actor, with the intent to arouse or gratify his sexual desire, touched the complainant without her consent. Accidental, incidental, or clinical contact does not satisfy this element.
4. Identity
The State must prove the defendant — not someone else in the crowded bar, packed concert, or dim restaurant — made the contact. Identity is contested in these cases more often than outsiders expect.
How Do Prosecutors Prove Indecent Assault?
Most § 22.012 prosecutions are built on testimony plus context. The complainant describes the contact; the State corroborates with whatever the scene offers — surveillance video from a bar or rideshare, prompt complaints to friends or security staff, text messages sent minutes after the encounter, and, in provider cases, appointment records showing the defendant was alone with the complainant.
Intent is nearly always proved circumstantially. Juries may infer intent to arouse or gratify from the body part touched, the duration and manner of the contact, remarks made before or after, and attempts at concealment. No confession is required, and no physical evidence is required.
The clothing question is settled against defendants. In Edwards v. State, No. 05-23-00169-CR (Tex. App.—Dallas Nov. 25, 2024), the Dallas Court of Appeals held that a “touch” under § 22.012(a)(1) may occur through clothing and does not require flesh-to-flesh contact — rejecting the argument that because §§ 21.02 and 21.11 say “including touching through clothing” and § 22.012 does not, the Legislature must have required skin contact. Groping over pajama pants, jeans, or a dress is chargeable.
A hypothetical illustrates the proof pattern. A man at a Plano bar squeezes a woman’s breast over her shirt as she passes. She tells the bartender immediately, security pulls video showing the contact, and police take statements that night. The through-the-clothing contact, the immediate outcry, and the video give the State all three contested elements: the act, the lack of consent, and — inferred from the body part targeted — sexual intent. (Hypothetical only; not a description of any actual client or case.)
What Defenses Work Against an Indecent Assault Charge?
Defense strategy on a § 22.012 charge starts with the two elements the State usually cannot prove with video: consent and intent.
Consent. In dating, nightlife, and party contexts, contact that one person later describes as non-consensual may have been invited or mutual in the moment. Messages exchanged before and after, witness accounts of the interaction, and the parties’ prior relationship can support a consent defense the jury must resolve.
No sexual intent. Crowded venues, medical examinations, caregiving, sports, and plain accident all produce touches without intent to arouse or gratify. Where the State’s intent theory rests solely on the location of an inadvertent touch, reasonable doubt lives.
Misidentification. Dark rooms, alcohol, and packed crowds produce wrong-person accusations. Receipts, geolocation data, video, and witnesses can place the defendant elsewhere — or put someone else’s hand at the scene.
Fabrication or motive to accuse falsely. Custody disputes, workplace rivalries, and souring relationships occasionally generate accusations of events that did not occur. Cross-examination on timing, inconsistencies, and motive is constitutionally protected and often decisive.
Suppression. Statements taken in custodial interrogation without proper warnings, or evidence pulled from an unlawful phone seizure, can be excluded under Code of Criminal Procedure article 38.23.
One structural point reshapes trial strategy: there is no fine-only fallback. In Castro v. State, 717 S.W.3d 928 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2025), the court held that Class C offensive-contact assault is not a lesser-included offense of indecent assault, because the elements of assault are different from — not a subset of — the elements of indecent assault. A jury that believes contact occurred but doubts sexual intent cannot compromise on a ticket-level offense; it must acquit. That all-or-nothing posture cuts both ways, and it should inform both plea negotiations and the charge conference.
A second hypothetical. A massage therapist in Frisco is accused after a client reports contact near — but, per the therapist, never on — an intimate area during a draping adjustment. Treatment notes, the studio’s draping protocol, booking records, and testimony about standard technique support a no-intent, scope-of-practice defense. The 2023 provider enhancement raises the stakes: the same allegation charged under § 22.012(b)(1)(B) is a state jail felony. (Hypothetical only.)
Can an Indecent Assault Charge Be Dismissed or Expunged?
Yes — outcomes short of conviction are realistic in these cases, and the record-clearing math is better than for most sex-related charges.
Dismissal paths. Weak-intent cases, consent cases, and identity cases get dismissed or declined when defense counsel front-loads the problems: video that contradicts the narrative, witnesses the responding officer never interviewed, messages the complainant sent afterward. DFW counties also operate pretrial diversion and intervention programs for eligible first-time misdemeanor defendants, and successful completion typically ends in dismissal.
Deferred adjudication. Under Code of Criminal Procedure chapter 42A, a judge can accept a plea, withhold a finding of guilt, and dismiss the case after successful supervision. Because § 22.012 is not a registrable offense, a deferred plea here carries none of the registration consequences that follow deferred adjudication for § 22.011 or § 21.11 charges.
Record sealing. After deferred adjudication on a Class A indecent assault, an order of nondisclosure under Government Code § 411.0725 becomes available two years after discharge and dismissal — the waiting period § 411.0725(e) sets for misdemeanors under Penal Code chapter 22. An acquittal, a no-bill, or a dismissal without community supervision can support full expunction. A final conviction, by contrast, stays: Texas law allows neither expunction nor nondisclosure of a § 22.012 conviction.
Where Are Indecent Assault Cases Heard in Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant County?
As a Class A misdemeanor, indecent assault is filed by information in the county-level criminal courts; the felony grades go to grand juries and district courts.
Collin County. Misdemeanor cases are assigned to the County Courts at Law at the Collin County Courthouse (Russell A. Steindam Courts Building), 2100 Bloomdale Road in McKinney — the same building that houses the district courts that would hear an enhanced felony case. Arrests in Frisco, Plano, McKinney, and Allen route here.
Dallas County. County Criminal Courts sit at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas, alongside the felony district courts. Dallas dockets are high-volume; announcement settings move quickly, and early defense contact with the court’s prosecutors can shape the case before a filing decision hardens.
Denton County. County Criminal Courts hear Class A cases at the Denton County Courts Building in Denton, covering arrests from Lewisville, Flower Mound, and the city of Denton.
Tarrant County. County Criminal Courts sit in the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in downtown Fort Worth, in the same complex as the felony district courts.
Court-to-court rhythm varies more than county-to-county rhythm: some courts press early plea postures while others set contested cases for trial quickly. What stays consistent is the bond paperwork — no-contact conditions with the complainant are near-universal in all four counties, and violating one is a separate, jailable problem.
What Happens After an Indecent Assault Arrest in Texas?
The procedural arc tracks any Texas misdemeanor, with a few offense-specific wrinkles:
Arrest and book-in. Many § 22.012 cases begin with a delayed arrest — a report, a follow-up investigation, then a warrant — rather than an on-scene arrest. That gap is a window where early defense counsel can present exculpatory material before charges are filed.
Magistration. Within roughly 48 hours, a magistrate delivers the statutory warnings and sets bond. Code of Criminal Procedure article 15.17.
Bond conditions. Expect a no-contact condition and, in provider cases, restrictions on practice or client contact. Article 17.40 lets magistrates impose reasonable conditions tied to victim and community safety.
Charging. The Class A grade is charged by information filed by the district attorney’s office — no grand jury. The state jail and third-degree grades require indictment. Limitations: two years for the misdemeanor (article 12.02); three years for the felony grades under article 12.01’s general rule.
Discovery and pretrial. The Michael Morton Act, article 39.14, obligates the State to produce offense reports, video, and witness statements on request. Suppression and evidentiary motions get heard at pretrial settings.
Resolution. Dismissal, diversion, deferred adjudication, conviction with probation, or trial — in roughly that order of frequency for first-time defendants whose lawyers engage early.
Enhancements & Collateral Consequences
The enhancement architecture is narrow but sharp. A prior § 22.012 conviction elevates a new charge to a state jail felony under § 22.012(b)(1)(A). A health care or mental health provider — terms the statute imports from § 22.011 — who commits the offense during treatment, beyond generally accepted practices, faces a state jail felony on a first offense under § 22.012(b)(1)(B) and a third-degree felony on a repeat under § 22.012(b)(2).
The collateral picture has one defining feature: no sex-offender registration. The list of reportable convictions in Code of Criminal Procedure article 62.001(5) — which sweeps in § 21.11, § 22.011, § 22.021, § 25.02, § 43.25, and their neighbors — does not include § 22.012. The Legislature graded the offense seriously but deliberately left it off the registry. That single omission separates an indecent assault conviction from nearly every adjacent sex-offense conviction in long-term consequence.
The rest of the fallout is still substantial:
Criminal record. A conviction is a permanent, public record of a sexually motivated offense visible on employment, housing, volunteer, and licensing background checks.
Professional licenses. Nursing, medical, counseling, massage, and educator boards open their own disciplinary cases, and board action does not wait for the criminal outcome. Provider-context allegations routinely run criminal and administrative tracks at the same time.
Firearms. The Class A grade, standing alone, does not trigger the felony firearm bars of Penal Code § 46.04 or 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The felony grades do.
Immigration. A sexual-contact offense can be treated as a crime involving moral turpitude; noncitizens need immigration-specific advice before entering any plea.
Civil liability. The same allegation supports a civil assault-and-battery suit, and § 22.012(c) lets the State prosecute alongside it. Anything said in the civil case is available to prosecutors, so sequencing and Fifth Amendment strategy across the two proceedings matters.
How Does Indecent Assault Compare to Related Offenses?
Charging decisions around § 22.012 turn on age, penetration, and conduct type. The map:
Non-consensual sexual touching, exposure, or contact with bodily fluids committed with intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire; a Class A misdemeanor created by S.B. 194, effective September 1, 2019.
Intent to Arouse or Gratify
The specific-intent mental state that separates indecent assault from ordinary assault; proved circumstantially through the nature, location, duration, and context of the contact.
Consent
Undefined in § 22.012 itself — unlike § 22.011(b)’s enumerated list for sexual assault — leaving lack of consent a fact question the jury resolves from testimony and circumstances.
Provider Enhancement
Under § 22.012(b)(1)(B), a health care or mental health provider who commits the offense during treatment, beyond generally accepted practices, commits a state jail felony; added by H.B. 55, effective September 1, 2023.
State Jail Felony
Punishable by 180 days to 2 years in a state jail facility and a fine up to $10,000 (Penal Code § 12.35); the grade for repeat and provider indecent assault.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is indecent assault a felony or a misdemeanor in Texas?
Indecent assault is a Class A misdemeanor in most cases — up to one year in county jail and a $4,000 fine. It becomes a state jail felony if the defendant has a prior § 22.012 conviction or committed the offense as a health care or mental health provider during treatment, and a third-degree felony for repeat provider offenses.
Does an indecent assault conviction require sex-offender registration in Texas?
Can I be charged for touching someone over their clothes?
Yes. The Dallas Court of Appeals held in Edwards v. State, No. 05-23-00169-CR (Tex. App.—Dallas Nov. 25, 2024), that a touch under § 22.012 may occur through clothing — flesh-to-flesh contact is not required. Groping over clothing is chargeable if the other elements are met.
What is the difference between indecent assault and sexual assault?
Penetration is the main line. Sexual assault under § 22.011 involves penetration or specified oral contact and is a second-degree felony in most cases, with sex-offender registration; indecent assault under § 22.012 covers non-consensual sexual touching and exposure and is a Class A misdemeanor without registration.
Can the alleged victim drop an indecent assault charge?
No — only the State can dismiss a criminal charge. A complainant who no longer wants to proceed can sign an affidavit of non-prosecution, which prosecutors weigh but are free to disregard. Some cases proceed on video and outcry witnesses even without the complainant’s cooperation.
How does the State prove intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire?
Circumstantially. Juries are permitted to infer sexual intent from the body part touched, the manner and duration of the contact, remarks made before or after, and any attempt at concealment. The defense counters with context showing accidental, incidental, or non-sexual contact.
Can an indecent assault charge be expunged?
An acquittal, a no-bill, or a dismissal without community supervision can support expunction. Deferred adjudication is not expungable, but it can be sealed by an order of nondisclosure under Government Code § 411.0725 two years after discharge and dismissal. A final conviction can never be expunged or sealed.
Is groping the same thing as indecent assault?
Functionally, yes. Groping is the conduct § 22.012 was written to reach — non-consensual sexual touching that involves no penetration. Before the statute took effect on September 1, 2019, that conduct was usually charged, if at all, as a fine-only Class C offensive-contact assault.
Will an indecent assault charge affect my professional license?
It can, especially for health care workers. Licensing boards open independent disciplinary investigations on arrest or complaint, and the 2023 amendment makes provider-context indecent assault a state jail felony. Nurses, physicians, therapists, massage therapists, and educators should coordinate criminal defense with license defense from the start.
Reggie London co-founded L and L Law Group with a focus on federal criminal defense, complex felony defense, and TEA/SBEC matters. Licensed in Texas, admitted to TXND and TXED.
Njeri London co-founded L and L Law Group with a focus on DWI defense, family violence cases, and juvenile defense. Licensed in Texas, admitted to TXND and TXED.
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