Friday, July 4, 2008
The General Assembly is now in session.
Tracking Virginia’s General Assembly
since 2007.
HB1841: Statutory rape; provides penalty therefor.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 18.2-61 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 18.2-61. Rape; penalty.
A. If any person has sexual intercourse with a complaining witness, whether or not his or her spouse, or causes a complaining witness, whether or not his or her spouse, to engage in sexual intercourse with any other person and such act is accomplished (i) against the complaining witness's will, by force, threat or intimidation of or against the complaining witness or another person; or (ii) through the use of the complaining witness's mental incapacity or physical helplessness; or (iii) with a child under age 13 as the victim, he or she shall be guilty of rape.
B. A violation of this section shall be punishable, in the
discretion of the court or jury, by confinement in a state correctional
facility for life or for any term not less than five years; the.
The penalty for a violation of subdivision A
(iii) shall include a mandatory minimum term of confinement of five years. The penalty for a violation of
subdivision A (iii), where the offender is more than three years older than the
victim, if done in the commission of, or as part of the same course of conduct
as, or as part of a common scheme or plan as a violation of (i) subsection A of
§ 18.2-47 or § 18.2-48, (ii) § 18.2-89, 18.2-90 or 18.2-91, or (iii) §
18.2-51.2, shall include a mandatory minimum term of confinement of 25 years.
If the term of confinement imposed for any violation of subdivision A (iii),
where the offender is more than three years older than the victim, is for a
term less than life imprisonment, the judge shall impose, in addition to any
active sentence, a suspended sentence of no less than 40 years. This suspended
sentence shall be suspended for the remainder of the defendant's life, subject
to revocation by the court.
There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a juvenile over the age of 10 but less than 12, does not possess the physical capacity to commit a violation of this section. In any case deemed appropriate by the court, all or part of any sentence imposed for a violation under this section against a spouse may be suspended upon the defendant's completion of counseling or therapy, if not already provided, in the manner prescribed under § 19.2-218.1 if, after consideration of the views of the complaining witness and such other evidence as may be relevant, the court finds such action will promote maintenance of the family unit and will be in the best interest of the complaining witness.
C. Upon a finding of guilt under this section, when a spouse is the complaining witness in any case tried by the court without a jury, the court, without entering a judgment of guilt, upon motion of the defendant who has not previously had a proceeding against him for violation of this section dismissed pursuant to this subsection and with the consent of the complaining witness and the attorney for the Commonwealth, may defer further proceedings and place the defendant on probation pending completion of counseling or therapy, if not already provided, in the manner prescribed under § 19.2-218.1. If the defendant fails to so complete such counseling or therapy, the court may make final disposition of the case and proceed as otherwise provided. If such counseling is completed as prescribed under § 19.2-218.1, the court may discharge the defendant and dismiss the proceedings against him if, after consideration of the views of the complaining witness and such other evidence as may be relevant, the court finds such action will promote maintenance of the family unit and be in the best interest of the complaining witness.
2. That the provisions of this act may result in a net increase in periods of imprisonment or commitment. Pursuant to § 30-19.1:4, the estimated amount of the necessary appropriation is $310,784 for periods of imprisonment in state adult correctional facilities and is $0 for periods of commitment to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.
Additional Data
Explanation
This is the actual text of the bill — the legislation itself. Generally this is amending existing law, proposing the addition or removal of words from laws that are already on the books.
Words that are highlighted in yellow are
proposed additions, and words that are crossed out in
red are proposed removals.
The numbers with the § symbol before them are references to existing laws, and if you click on them they’ll take you to that part of the law on the state's website.