Analysis of Non-Homicidal Necrophilic Offenses and Punishments According to State Law and Aggrawal’s Classification System

Historical documentation indicates that the presence of necrophilia has been a constant since approximately 455BC, and one of its very first instances was recorded in Ancient Egypt. This is not to say that necrophilia did not occur prior to the keeping of archives. What is notable is the fact that at present time—some 2479 years later in the year 2025AD—necrophilia is still occurring across the world not excluding America. This speaks volumes in proving that the practice continues to persevere across both geographic location and time. An extensive review of literature revealed research identifying necrophilia as a paraphilic mental disorder after the conducting of psychoanalysis on those who took part in necrophilic acts. Other research brought forth the criminalization of necrophilia in some jurisdictions from a legal perspective. Still more articles displayed that necrophilia is precisely the point in which psychological disorder and crime intersect. Additional studies shed light on a categorization system for necrophiles, signifying that the mind and behavior of all participants are not one in the same. It is both the system of classification and the criminal/legal aspect of necrophilia in the US that are the focus of the research at hand. In the United States, no federal law exists regarding the banning of necrophilia. This legislative responsibility is left completely up to each individual state. Some states follow in the footsteps of the US government, opting not to include an anti-necrophilia law in their state code. Other states have certainly chosen to include such laws on their books. This research focuses on the states that do include laws that prohibit necrophilic acts within their state codes, or have established precedence-setting caselaw within their jurisdictions. This study was conducted via analytical comparative legal research. The purpose was to identify how necrophiles are handled under each state’s legal system in order to compare and contrast 1) variances as to where each state houses their anti-necrophilia law (criminal code/health regulation/precedence-setting caselaw), 2) their code specifications, 3) their criminal charges, 4) whom or what the offense is against (public/person/property) in their state, 5) the status of the corpse (person/object/undetermined) in their state, 6) their specified prohibited acts, 7) against what class(es) of necrophile a corpse is protected in their state, 8) the crime level (misdemeanor/felony) in their state, and 9) their maximum sentencing requirements. To do so,