In the legal context of the U.S., a criminal offense can be considered the meet the definition held for a sex crime if it empowers the law to accordingly designate the offending party as a sex offender. Sex crimes may also refer to the violation of a law placed within a sexual category. Generally, however, a sex crime will be an offense which involves some form of sexual contact, or a form of communication or expression offering or otherwise related to sexual contact, which is either performed without the consent of the person to whom it is directed or otherwise comes into contact with it, or is otherwise considered impermissible according to local statutes in force. As such, consensual sexual contact with an individual considered, by the laws of the jurisdiction, a minor, will accordingly be designated as a sex crime. A sex crime might also involve prostitution or pornography.
