The Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System defines four forcible sex offenses and two non- forcible sex offenses.

The forcible sex offenses include forcible rape, forcible sodomy, sexual assault with an object and forcible fondling. Forcible sex offenses are defined as: “Any sexual act directed against another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent.” The non-forcible offenses include incest and statutory rape. Non- forcible sex offenses are defined as, “Unlawful, non-forcible sexual intercourse.” The following are the definitions of the offenses as found in the TIBRS Data Collection Manual (pages 81-83):   

Forcible rape
 The carnal knowledge of a person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against that person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity (or because of his/her youth).

Forcible sodomy
 Oral or anal sexual intercourse with another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.

Sexual assault with an object
 To use an object or instrument to unlawfully penetrate, however slightly, the genital or anal opening of the body of another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.

Forcible fondling
 The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or against the person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.