Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION
                Introduced House Bill 5578
               By Delegate Young [Introduced February 12, 2024; Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary]
     Intr HB                                                                                    2024R3818
  A BILL to amend and reenact §61-8B-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating
            to modifying the definition of "sexual contact" by removing the element of the parties not
            being married to each other from the definition.
     Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
     ARTICLE                           8B.                      SEXUAL                      OFFENSES.
     §61-8B-1.                           Definition of                    terms.
            In this article, unless a different meaning plainly is required:
            (1) "Forcible compulsion" means:
            (a) Physical force that overcomes such earnest resistance as might reasonably be
  expected under the circumstances; or
            (b) Threat or intimidation, expressed or implied, placing a person in fear of immediate
  death or bodily injury to himself or herself or another person, or in fear that he or she or another
  person will be kidnapped; or
            (c) Fear by a person under 16 years of age caused by intimidation, expressed or implied,
  by another person who is at least four years older than the victim.
           For the purposes of this definition, "resistance" includes physical resistance or any clear
 communication of the victim's lack of consent.
           (2) "Married", for the purposes of this article in addition to its legal meaning, includes
 persons living together as husband and wife regardless of the legal status of their relationship.
           (3) "Mentally defective" means that a person suffers from a mental disease or defect which
 renders that person incapable of appraising the nature of his or her conduct.
           (4) "Mentally incapacitated" means that a person is rendered temporarily incapable of
 appraising or controlling his or her conduct as a result of the influence of a controlled or
 intoxicating substance administered to that person without his or her consent or as a result of any
 other act committed upon that person without his or her consent.
           (5) "Physically helpless" means that a person is unconscious or for any reason is physically
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     Intr HB                                                                                             2024R3818
 unable to communicate unwillingness to an act.
           (6) "Sexual contact" means any intentional touching, either directly or through clothing, of
 the breasts, buttocks, anus, or any part of the sex organs of another person, or intentional touching
 of any part of another person's body by the actor's sex organs where the victim is not married to
 the actor and the touching is done for the purpose of gratifying the sexual desire of either party.
           (7) "Sexual intercourse" means any act between persons involving penetration, however
 slight, of the female sex organ by the male sex organ or involving contact between the sex organs
 of one person and the mouth or anus of another person.
           (8) "Sexual intrusion" means any act between persons involving penetration, however
 slight, of the female sex organ or of the anus of any person by an object for the purpose of
 degrading or humiliating the person so penetrated or for gratifying the sexual desire of either party.
           (9) "Bodily injury" means substantial physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical
 condition.
           (10) "Serious bodily injury" means bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death,
 which causes serious or prolonged disfigurement, prolonged impairment of health, or prolonged
 loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ.
           (11) "Deadly weapon" means any instrument, device, or thing capable of inflicting death or
 serious bodily injury and designed or specially adapted for use as a weapon, or possessed,
 carried, or used as a weapon.
           (12) "Forensic medical examination" means an examination provided to a possible victim
 of a violation of the provisions of this article by medical personnel qualified to gather evidence of
 the violation in a manner suitable for use in a court of law, to include: An examination for physical
 trauma; a determination of penetration or force; a patient interview; and the collection and
 evaluation of other evidence that is potentially relevant to the determination that a violation of the
 provisions of this article occurred and to the determination of the identity of the assailant.
               Note: The purpose of this bill is to modify the definition of "sexual contact" by removing the
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Intr HB                                                                                         2024R3818
          element of the parties not being married to each other from the definition.
          Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced Version: 61-8B-1