BILL REQ. #:  H-0400.1 

Prefiled 12/26/2002. Read first time 01/13/2003.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to voyeurism; amending RCW 9A.44.115 and 9A.04.080; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 9A.44.115 and 1998 c 221 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) As used in this section:
     (a) "Photographs" or "films" means the making of a photograph, motion picture film, videotape, or any other recording or transmission of the image of a person;
     (b) "Place where he or she would have a reasonable expectation of privacy" means:
     (i) A place where a reasonable person would believe that he or she could disrobe in privacy, without being concerned that his or her undressing was being photographed or filmed by another; or
     (ii) A place where one may reasonably expect to be safe from casual or hostile intrusion or surveillance;
     (c) "Surveillance" means secret observation of the activities of another person for the purpose of spying upon and invading the privacy of the person;
     (d) "Views" means the intentional looking upon of another person for more than a brief period of time, in other than a casual or cursory manner, with the unaided eye or with a device designed or intended to improve visual acuity.
     (2)(a) A person commits the crime of voyeurism in the first degree if, for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any person, he or she knowingly views, photographs, or films another person, without that person's knowledge and consent, while the person being viewed, photographed, or filmed is in a place where he or she would have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
     (b) A person commits the crime of voyeurism in the second degree if, under circumstances not constituting voyeurism in the first degree, for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any person, he or she knowingly views, photographs, or films another person under or through the clothing being worn by that other person, for the purpose of viewing, photographing, or filming the body of, or the undergarments worn by, the other person, without that person's knowledge and consent and under circumstances where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy.
     (3)(a) Voyeurism in the first degree is a class C felony.
     (b) Voyeurism in the second degree is a gross misdemeanor.
     (4) This section does not apply to viewing, photographing, or filming by personnel of the department of corrections or of a local jail or correctional facility for security purposes or during investigation of alleged misconduct by a person in the custody of the department of corrections or the local jail or correctional facility.

Sec. 2   RCW 9A.04.080 and 1998 c 221 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Prosecutions for criminal offenses shall not be commenced after the periods prescribed in this section.
     (a) The following offenses may be prosecuted at any time after their commission:
     (i) Murder;
     (ii) Homicide by abuse;
     (iii) Arson if a death results;
     (iv) Vehicular homicide;
     (v) Vehicular assault if a death results;
     (vi) Hit-and-run injury-accident if a death results (RCW 46.52.020(4)).
     (b) The following offenses shall not be prosecuted more than ten years after their commission:
     (i) Any felony committed by a public officer if the commission is in connection with the duties of his or her office or constitutes a breach of his or her public duty or a violation of the oath of office;
     (ii) Arson if no death results; or
     (iii) Violations of RCW 9A.44.040 or 9A.44.050 if the rape is reported to a law enforcement agency within one year of its commission; except that if the victim is under fourteen years of age when the rape is committed and the rape is reported to a law enforcement agency within one year of its commission, the violation may be prosecuted up to three years after the victim's eighteenth birthday or up to ten years after the rape's commission, whichever is later. If a violation of RCW 9A.44.040 or 9A.44.050 is not reported within one year, the rape may not be prosecuted: (A) More than three years after its commission if the violation was committed against a victim fourteen years of age or older; or (B) more than three years after the victim's eighteenth birthday or more than seven years after the rape's commission, whichever is later, if the violation was committed against a victim under fourteen years of age.
     (c) Violations of the following statutes shall not be prosecuted more than three years after the victim's eighteenth birthday or more than seven years after their commission, whichever is later: RCW 9A.44.073, 9A.44.076, 9A.44.083, 9A.44.086, 9A.44.070, 9A.44.080, 9A.44.100(1)(b), or 9A.64.020.
     (d) The following offenses shall not be prosecuted more than six years after their commission: Violations of RCW 9A.82.060 or 9A.82.080.
     (e) The following offenses shall not be prosecuted more than five years after their commission: Any class C felony under chapter 74.09, 82.36, or 82.38 RCW.
     (f) Bigamy shall not be prosecuted more than three years after the time specified in RCW 9A.64.010.
     (g) A violation of RCW 9A.56.030 must not be prosecuted more than three years after the discovery of the offense when the victim is a tax exempt corporation under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3).
     (h) No other felony may be prosecuted more than three years after its commission; except that in a prosecution under RCW 9A.44.115(2)(a), if the person who was viewed, photographed, or filmed did not realize at the time that he or she was being viewed, photographed, or filmed, the prosecution must be commenced within two years of the time the person who was viewed or in the photograph or film first learns that he or she was viewed, photographed, or filmed.
     (i) No gross misdemeanor may be prosecuted more than two years after its commission; except that in a prosecution under RCW 9A.44.115(2)(b), if the person who was viewed, photographed, or filmed did not realize at the time that he or she was being viewed, photographed, or filmed, the prosecution must be commenced within one year of the time the person who was viewed or in the photograph or film first learns that he or she was viewed, photographed, or filmed.
     (j) No misdemeanor may be prosecuted more than one year after its commission.
     (2) The periods of limitation prescribed in subsection (1) of this section do not run during any time when the person charged is not usually and publicly resident within this state.
     (3) If, before the end of a period of limitation prescribed in subsection (1) of this section, an indictment has been found or a complaint or an information has been filed, and the indictment, complaint, or information is set aside, then the period of limitation is extended by a period equal to the length of time from the finding or filing to the setting aside.