SB 572-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
03/13/2020 1208s
2020 SESSION
20-2731
04/05
SENATE BILL 572-FN
AN ACT relative to prohibited sexual contact involving persons in a position of authority.
SPONSORS: Sen. Hennessey, Dist 5; Sen. Gray, Dist 6; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 21; Sen. Feltes, Dist 15; Sen. Starr, Dist 1; Sen. Levesque, Dist 12; Sen. Kahn, Dist 10; Sen. Chandley, Dist 11; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Cavanaugh, Dist 16; Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Bradley, Dist 3; Sen. Sherman, Dist 24; Rep. Tanner, Sull. 9
COMMITTEE: Judiciary
AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill inserts a definition of "student" in the sexual assault statutes and amends the circumstances that constitute sexual contact by a person in a position of authority for the purpose of sexual assault.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03/13/2020 1208s 20-2731
04/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty
AN ACT relative to prohibited sexual contact involving persons in a position of authority.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Sexual Assault and Related Offenses; Definitions. Amend RSA 632-A:1 by inserting after paragraph V the following new paragraph:
V-a. Student means an individual who is enrolled or participating in any class or program from preschool through grade 12, or any adult student as specified in Ed 1102.01(f)(1) at any school or education institution except as otherwise provided in the department of education administrative rules for the education of children with disabilities.
2 Aggravated Felonious Sexual Assault. Amend RSA 632-A:2, I(n) to read as follows:
(n) When the actor is in a position of authority over the victim and uses this authority to coerce the victim to submit under any of the following circumstances:
(1) When the actor has direct supervisory, disciplinary, or other authority authorized by law over, or direct responsibility for maintaining detention of, the victim by virtue of the victim being detained or incarcerated in a correctional institution, the secure psychiatric unit, a juvenile detention facility, or any other setting in which the victim is not free to leave; [or]
(2) When the actor is a probation or parole officer or a juvenile probation and parole officer who has direct supervisory or disciplinary authority over the victim while the victim is on parole or probation or under juvenile probation; or
(3) When the actor is an employee, volunteer, or contractor at a primary or secondary educational institution and is in a position of authority over the victim, who is a student at the same educational institution.
Consent of the victim under any of the circumstances set forth in subparagraph (n) shall not be considered a defense.
3 Felonious Sexual Assault. Amend RSA 632-A:3, IV to read as follows:
IV.(a) Engages in sexual contact with the person, or causes the person to engage in sexual contact on himself or herself in the presence of the actor, when the actor is in a position of authority over the person and uses that authority to coerce the victim to submit under any of the following circumstances:
(1) When the actor has direct supervisory or disciplinary authority over the victim by virtue of the victim being incarcerated in a correctional institution, the secure psychiatric unit, or juvenile detention facility where the actor is employed; [or]
(2) When the actor is a probation or parole officer or a juvenile probation and parole officer who has direct supervisory or disciplinary authority over the victim while the victim is on parole or probation or under juvenile probation; or
(3) When the actor is an employee, volunteer, or contractor at a primary or secondary educational institution and is in a position of authority over the victim, who is a student at the same educational institution.
(b) Consent of the victim under any of the circumstances set forth in this paragraph shall not be considered a defense.
(c) For the purpose of this paragraph, "sexual contact" means the intentional touching whether directly, through clothing, or otherwise, of the [person's] victim's or actor's sexual or intimate parts, including genitalia, emissions of seminal or vaginal fluid, tongue, anus, breasts, and buttocks, where such contact, or the causing of such contact, can reasonably be construed as being for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification of the person in the position of authority, or the humiliation of the person being touched.
4 Sexual Assault. Amend RSA 632-A:4, III(c) to read as follows:
(c) For the purpose of this paragraph, "sexual contact" means the intentional touching whether directly, through clothing, or otherwise, of the [person's] victim's or actor's sexual or intimate parts, including genitalia, emissions of seminal or vaginal fluid, tongue, anus, breasts, and buttocks, where such contact, or the causing of such contact, can reasonably be construed as being for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification of the person in the position of authority, or the humiliation of the person being touched.
5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2021.
20-2731
Amended 3/24/20
SB 572-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE (AMENDMENT #2020-1208s)
AN ACT relative to prohibited sexual contact involving persons in a position of authority.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ X ] County [ ] Local [ ] None