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SPONSOR: |
Rep. M. Smith & Sen. Blevins |
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Reps.
Bolden, Jaques, Keeley, Mitchell, Schooley, Viola, Walker; Sens. Bunting,
Bushweller, Henry |
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 146th GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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HOUSE BILL NO. 353 |
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AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SEXUAL OFFENSES. |
Section 1. Amend § 767, Title 11 of the Delaware Code by
making insertions as shown by underlining as follows:
A person is guilty of unlawful
sexual contact in the third degree when the person has sexual contact with
another person or causes the victim to have sexual contact with the person or a
third person and the person knows that the contact is either offensive to the
victim or occurs without the victim's consent as defined in § 761(j) of this
title.
Section 2. Amend § 770(a)(3)a., Title 11 of the Delaware
Code by making insertions as shown by underlining as follows:
a. The sexual penetration occurs
without the victim's consent as defined in § 761(j) of this title; or
Section 3. Amend § 771(a)(2)a., Title 11 of the Delaware
Code by making insertions as shown by underlining as follows:
a. The sexual penetration occurs
without the victim's consent as defined in § 761(j) of this title and
during the commission of the crime, or during the immediate flight from the
crime, or during an attempt to prevent the reporting of the crime, the person
causes physical injury or serious mental or emotional injury to the victim; or
Section 4. Amend § 772(a), Title 11 of the Delaware Code
by making insertions as shown by underlining as follows:
(a) A person is guilty of rape
in the second degree when the person:
(1)
Intentionally engages in sexual intercourse with another person, and the
intercourse occurs without the victim's consent as defined in § 761(j) of
this title; or
(2) Intentionally
engages in sexual penetration with another person under any of the following
circumstances:
a.
The sexual penetration occurs without the victim's consent as defined in §
761(j) of this title and during the commission of the crime, or during the immediate
flight following the commission of the crime, or during an attempt to prevent
the reporting of the crime, the person causes serious physical injury to the
victim; or
b.
The sexual penetration occurs without the victim's consent as defined in §
761(j) of this title, and was facilitated by or occurred during the course
of the commission or attempted commission of:
1.
Any felony; or
2.
Any of the following misdemeanors: reckless endangering in the second degree;
assault in the third degree; terroristic threatening; unlawfully administering
drugs; unlawful imprisonment in the second degree; coercion or criminal
trespass in the first, second or third degree; or
c.
The victim has not yet reached that victim's sixteenth birthday and during the
commission of the crime, or during the immediate flight from the crime, or
during an attempt to prevent the reporting of the crime, the person causes
serious physical injury to the victim; or
d.
The sexual penetration occurs without the victim's consent as defined in §
761(j) of this title and during the commission of the crime, or during the
immediate flight from the crime, or during an attempt to prevent the reporting
of the crime, the person displays what appears to be a deadly weapon or represents
by word or conduct that the person is in possession or control of a deadly
weapon or dangerous instrument; or
e.
The victim has not yet reached that victim's sixteenth birthday and during the
commission of the crime, or during the immediate flight from the crime, or
during an attempt to prevent the reporting of the crime, the person displays
what appears to be a deadly weapon or represents by word or conduct that the
person is in possession or control of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument;
or
f.
The sexual penetration occurs without the victim's consent as defined in §
761(j) of this title, and a principal-accomplice relationship within the
meaning set forth in § 271 of this title existed between the defendant and
another person or persons with respect to the commission of the crime; or
g.
The victim has not yet reached that victim's twelfth birthday, and the
defendant has reached that defendant's eighteenth birthday.
h.
[Repealed.]
Section 5. Amend § 773(a), Title 11 of the Delaware Code
by making insertions as shown by underlining as follows:
(a) A person is guilty of rape
in the first degree when the person intentionally engages in sexual intercourse
with another person and any of the following circumstances exist:
(1) The sexual
intercourse occurs without the victim's consent as defined in § 761(j) of
this title and during the commission of the crime, or during the immediate
flight following the commission of the crime, or during an attempt to prevent
the reporting of the crime, the person causes physical injury or serious mental
or emotional injury to the victim; or
(2) The sexual
intercourse occurs without the victim's consent as defined in § 761(j) of
this title and it was facilitated by or occurred during the course of the
commission or attempted commission of:
a.
Any felony; or
b.
Any of the following misdemeanors: reckless endangering in the second degree;
assault in the third degree; terroristic threatening; unlawfully administering
drugs; unlawful imprisonment in the second degree; coercion; or criminal
trespass in the first, second or third degree; or
(3) In the
course of the commission of rape in the second, third or fourth degree, or
while in the immediate flight therefrom, the defendant displayed what appeared
to be a deadly weapon or represents by word or conduct that the person is in
possession or control of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument; or
(4) The sexual
intercourse occurs without the victim's consent as defined in § 761(j) of
this title, and a principal-accomplice relationship within the meaning set
forth in § 271 of this title existed between the defendant and another person
or persons with respect to the commission of the crime; or
(5) The victim
has not yet reached that victim's twelfth birthday, and the defendant has
reached that defendant's eighteenth birthday.
(6) [Repealed.]
Section 6. Amend § 761(k), Title 11 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underlining and deletions as shown by strike through as follows:
(k)
Any child who has not yet reached that child's sixteenth birthday is
deemed unable to consent to a sexual act under the following circumstances: with a person more than 4 years older than
said child. Children who have not yet reached their twelfth birthday are deemed
unable to consent to a sexual act under any circumstances.
(1)
Any child who has not yet reached that child's sixteenth birthday is deemed
unable to consent to a sexual act with a person more than 6 years or older than
said child.
(2)
Any child who has not yet reached that child's fourteenth birthday is deemed
unable to consent to a sexual act with a person more than 4 years older than
said child.
(3) Any child who has not yet reached that child's twelfth birthday is deemed unable to consent to a sexual act with a person more than 2 years older than said child.
SYNOPSIS
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This Act clarifies the usage of the term “without the
victim’s consent” as found in the Criminal Code's rape statutory scheme. In contrast to current legislative intent,
the term “without the victim’s consent” is being broadly defined in order to
charge offenders that engage in consensual sexual acts with minors with the
enhanced “forcible rape” offenses rather than the lesser “statutory rape”
offenses. This is at odds with the
current statutory scheme’s logical progression as it relates to the varying
degrees of rape offenses. This Act
corrects this misinterpretation by distinguishing “statutory rape” from
traditional “forcible rape” consistent with existing |