Bill Text: NY A00754 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Modifies the offense of forcible touching by removing the element of the actor's intent, including the intent to degrade or abuse another person.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-08 - referred to codes [A00754 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A00754-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           754

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 8, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A. ROSENTHAL, SEAWRIGHT, SIMON, ROZIC, WEPRIN --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Codes

        AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to modifying the  offense  of
          "forcible  touching"  to  "unwanted  touching" and by removing certain
          elements of the actor's intent

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. Section 130.52 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 264
     2  of the laws of 2003, the opening paragraph and subdivision 1 as  amended
     3  and  subdivision  2  as  added  by  chapter  250 of the laws of 2015, is
     4  amended to read as follows:
     5  § 130.52 [Forcible] Unwanted touching.
     6    A person is guilty of [forcible] unwanted touching  when  such  person
     7  intentionally, and for no legitimate purpose:
     8    1.  [forcibly]  touches  the sexual or other intimate parts of another
     9  person [for the purpose of degrading or abusing such person, or for  the
    10  purpose  of  gratifying  the actor's sexual desire] without the latter's
    11  consent; or
    12    2. subjects another person to sexual contact [for the purpose of grat-
    13  ifying the actor's sexual desire and with intent  to  degrade  or  abuse
    14  such  other person] without the latter's consent while such other person
    15  is a passenger on a bus, train, or subway car operated  by  any  transit
    16  agency,  authority  or  company,  public  or private, whose operation is
    17  authorized by New York state or any of its political subdivisions.
    18    For  the  purposes  of  this  section,  [forcible]  unwanted  touching
    19  includes but is not limited to squeezing, grabbing, rubbing or pinching.
    20    [Forcible] Unwanted touching is a class A misdemeanor.
    21    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    22  it shall have become a law.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00996-01-5