THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch Supreme Court has ruled that a "forced kiss with tongue" should no longer be considered rape.
In one of the court's more unusual cases, the judges overturned a lower court's rape conviction of a man who forced his tongue into the mouth of a woman in a hospital restroom.
The five-judge panel's ruling Tuesday reversed a 1998 Supreme Court decision that any unwanted sexual penetration constituted rape.
The court now says that although such a forced kiss, while still illegal, is not as serious as forced sexual intercourse.
The judges say that a forced kiss should be considered an indecent assault, which carries a maximum sentence of eight years, as opposed to rape, which has a maximum 12-year sentence.
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