WEST virginia legislature
2019 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 2975
By Delegates Miller and D. Kelly
[Introduced on February 11, 2019; Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary]
A BILL to amend and reenact §61-8B-10 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to imposition of sexual acts on persons incarcerated or under supervision; providing for prohibition against sexual acts for any person working at an alternative sentence program who has supervisory duties; and providing that employees working at an alternative sentence program who engage in sexual acts with a person said employee is charged as part of his or her employment with supervising, is guilty of a felony.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
article 8b. sexual offenses.
§61-8B-10. Imposition of sexual acts on persons incarcerated or under supervision; penalties.
(a) Any person employed by
the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, any person working at a
correctional facility managed by the Commissioner of Corrections and
Rehabilitation pursuant to contract or as an employee of a state agency any
person working at a correctional facility managed by the Division of Juvenile
Services pursuant to contract or as an employee of a state agency, any person
employed by a jail or by the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority,
any person working at a facility managed by the Regional Jail and Correctional
Facility Authority or a jail or any person employed by, or acting pursuant
to, the authority of any sheriff, county commission or court to ensure
compliance with the provisions of §62-11B-1 et seq of this code who
engages in sexual intercourse, sexual intrusion or sexual contact with a person
who is incarcerated in this state is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined in a state correctional facility under the control
of the Commissioner of Corrections for not less than one nor more than five
years or fined not more than $5,000.
(b) Any person employed by
the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation as a parole officer or by
the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals as an adult or juvenile probation
officer, or any person working at an alternative sentence program operated
by a community criminal justice board as provided under W.Va. Code §62-11C-6 who
engages in sexual intercourse, sexual intrusion or sexual contact with a person
said parole officer or probation officer employee is charged as
part of his or her employment with supervising, is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be confined in a state correctional facility under
the control of the Commissioner of Corrections and Rehabilitation for
not less than one nor more than five years or fined not more than $5,000, or
both.
(c) The term “incarcerated in this state” for purposes of this section includes in addition to its usual meaning, offenders serving a sentence under the provisions of article §62-11B-1 et seq of this code.
(d) Authorized pat-down, strip search or other security related tasks does not constitute sexual contact pursuant to this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to include employees and contract employees of a day report center to those prohibited from engaging in sexual acts with those persons under their supervision.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.