In New York, the age of consent is 18 in most cases.  If a child is under the age of 18 he or she cannot legally consent to sexual relations.  Child sexual abuse is any interaction between a child and an adult (or another child) in which the child is used for the sexual stimulation of the perpetrator or an observer.

Activities that are considered child sexual abuse include touching and non-touching behaviors.  A sexual assault on a child involves sexual conduct and contact by the abuser and the child or the intentional touching of a child’s private parts, the genital area, groin, inner thighs, buttocks, or breasts, either directly or on top of the clothing.  Sexual abuse also occurs when the abuser has the child touch these parts of the abuser’s.  A child sexual assault also includes such activities as an abuser masturbating in front of a child. Child sexual abuse can involve an abuser performing other sex acts such as oral sex on a child or having the child perform oral sex on the abuser.