Sexual battery is the crime of touching another person or forcing another person to touch you in a sexual way without permission. Sexual battery is usually distinguished from rape; however, some states use the two terms interchangeably. For those states that do not, sexual battery does not include penetration.
Sexual battery can either qualify as a felony or as a misdemeanor. Examples of sexual battery include touching a female's breasts, patting a person's buttocks, touching a person's genital area or forcing another person to do these things to yourself without permission. People convicted of sexual battery can face significant punitive consequences including jail time. Sexual battery is a crime regardless of whether or not the victim is clothed.