Legislation aimed at banning sex with corpses and removing a body from a crime scene without being authorized to do so advanced Wednesday in the Illinois House of Representatives.
The proposal, House Bill 5122, was approved by a unanimous, 114-0 vote of the statehouse.
State Rep. Dan Beiser (D-Alton), the bill's principal sponsor, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch earlier this year that he introduced the legislation at the request of Madison County State's Attorney Tom Gibbons and other law enforcement officials. They reported multiple instances where bodies were moved by individuals to impede investigations into drug overdose-related deaths.
The proposed ban on having a sex with a corpse was added to the bill after Beiser became aware that such a law is currently not on the books in Illinois, according to the Post-Dispatch. It was not added in response to any specific incident.
The proposal would prohibit sex with a corpse as a Class 2 felony in Illinois, with a penalty of up to 7 years in prison. Those convicted of moving a corpse without authorization of the law would be guilty of a Class 4 felony and face a penalty of up to 3 years in prison.
There is, incidentally, no federal law that directly addresses necrophilia either, the Daily Mail reported.
If the bill eventually becomes Illinois law, the state will become the 23rd state to formally ban the practice of sex with the dead. A necrophilia conviction in Nevada carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.