FINAL BILL REPORT

HB 1108

C 94 L 13

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Modifying the definition of rape in the third degree and indecent liberties.

Sponsors: Representatives Goodman, Jinkins, Wylie, Pedersen, Green, Roberts, Pettigrew, Maxwell, Orwall, Appleton, Ryu, Morrell and Bergquist.

House Committee on Public Safety

Senate Committee on Law & Justice

Background:

Rape in the Third Degree. A person commits the crime of Rape in the third degree if he or she is not married to the victim, and he or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person (the victim) without consent or when there is a threat of substantial unlawful harm to the property rights of the victim. Rape in the third degree is a seriousness level V, class C felony offense. It is also a three strikes offense under the Three Strikes and You are Out persistent offender statute.

Indecent Liberties. An offender commits the crime of Indecent Liberties if he or she causes a victim, who is not his or her spouse, to have sexual contact with the perpetrator or another person: (1) by forcible compulsion; (2) when the victim is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless or mentally incapacitated; (3) when the victim is developmentally disabled and the perpetrator, who is not married to the victim, has supervisory authority over the victim or was providing transportation (within the course of his or her employment) to the victim at the time of the offense; (4) when the perpetrator is a health care provider and the sexual contact occurs during a treatment session, consultation, interview, or examination; (5) when the victim is a resident of a facility for mentally disordered or chemically dependent persons and the perpetrator, who is not married to the victim, has supervisory authority over the victim; or (6) when the victim is a frail elder or vulnerable adult and the perpetrator, who is not married to the victim, has a significant relationship to the victim or was providing transportation (within the course of his or her employment) to the victim at the time of the offense. Indecent Liberties with forcible compulsion is a seriousness level X, class A felony offense. It is also a two strikes sex offense under the Two Strikes and You are Out persistent offender statute. Indecent Liberties without forcible compulsion is a seriousness level VII, class B felony offense. It is also a three strikes offense.

Due to the statutory marital exemption in both statutes a perpetrator cannot be convicted of a Rape in the third degree or an Indecent Liberties offense if he or she is married to the victim.

Summary:

The statutory exemption that prohibits a victim's spouse from being convicted of a Rape in the third degree or Indecent Liberties offense is removed from statute. The crimes of Rape in the third degree and Indecent Liberties can occur and can be prosecuted in cases where the perpetrator is married to the victim.

Votes on Final Passage: