WEST virginia legislature
2018 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
Senate Bill 327
By Senators Weld, Boso, Gaunch, Cline, and Drennan
[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary; reported on January 26, 2018]
A BILL to amend and reenact §61-2-13 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the crime of extortion; providing that extorting anything of value, including sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or an image of an intimate body part qualifies as extortion and subjects a person to a criminal penalty; defining terms; and establishing criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-13. Extortion or attempted extortion by threats; penalties.
(a) If any A person threaten who
threatens injury to the character, person, or property of another person, or
to the character, person, or property of his wife or her spouse
or child, or to accuse accuses him or her or them of any
a criminal offense, and thereby extort obtains anything of
value money, pecuniary benefit, or any bond, note or other evidence of debt,
or other consideration, he shall be or she is guilty of a
felony and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary a
correctional facility not less than one nor more than five years. And if
any A person make who makes such threat of injury or
accusation of an offense as herein set forth in this section, but
fail thereby fails to extort obtain anything of value
money, pecuniary benefit, or any bond, note or other evidence of debt, or
other consideration, he shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not less than two nor more than
12 months and fined not less than $50 nor more than $500.
(b) For purposes of this article, “consideration” includes sexual acts as defined in §61-8B-1 of this code, and images of intimate parts defined in §61-8-28a of this code.