Washington State House of Representatives Office of Program Research |
BILL ANALYSIS |
Judiciary Committee |
|
SB 5570
Title: An act relating to communication with a minor for immoral purposes.
Brief Description: Expanding the crime of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
Sponsors: Senators Brown, Brandland, Kohl-Welles and Rasmussen; by request of Attorney General.
Brief Summary of Bill |
• Amends the crime of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes to include communicating with someone the person believes to be a minor. |
Hearing Date: 3/20/03
Staff: Trudes Tango Hutcheson (786-7384).
Background:
A person who communicates with a minor for immoral purposes is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. It becomes a class C felony if the person has been convicted of the offense before or has other felony sex offense convictions. Under case law, "immoral purposes" refers to promoting a child's exposure to and involvement in sexual misconduct.
Law enforcement and prosecution agencies are prohibited from employing minors to aid in their investigations of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
A person is guilty of an attempt to commit a crime if, with intent to commit a specific crime, the person does any act which is a substantial step toward the commission of the crime. It is not a defense to a prosecution of attempt that the crime would have been factually impossible to complete. For example, in a recent case, the court upheld a conviction for attempted rape of a child of a defendant who made arrangements to have sexual intercourse with a person the defendant believed to be a young girl. The court rejected the defendant's argument that he could never take a substantial step toward completing the crime because the "victim" was really an undercover detective and not a child. The attempt statute focuses on the actor's criminal intent, rather than the impossibility of convicting the defendant of the completed crime. State v. Townsend, 147 Wn.2d 666 (2002).
An attempt to commit a crime is a gross misdemeanor when the underlying crime attempted is a class C felony. Attempt to commit a crime is a misdemeanor when the underlying crime attempted is a gross misdemeanor.
Summary of Bill:
The crime of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes can be committed by communicating with someone the person believes to be a minor.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Not Requested.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.