What is a strict liability crime?

A strict liability crime is one that does not require an intent to break the law. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you meant to break the law or not, you can still be convicted of the crime. The most common types of strict liability crimes might include parking violations (it doesn’t matter if you intended to park in the wrong place, it only matters that you did); the sale of alcohol or tobacco to a minor (it doesn’t matter if you knew or didn’t know that the buyer was a minor, it only matters that he or she was); and statutory rape (again, it doesn’t matter if you didn’t know that the victim was a minor, it only matters that he or she was). Conversely, most crimes require that you “knowingly” committed the act.