Bill Text: SC H3154 | 2011-2012 | 119th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Solicitation of a minor
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 7-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-23 - Member(s) request name added as sponsor: McCoy [H3154 Detail]
Download: South_Carolina-2011-H3154-Introduced.html
A BILL
TO AMEND SECTION 16-15-342, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE OFFENSE OF CRIMINAL SOLICITATION OF A MINOR, SO AS TO INCREASE THE PENALTY FOR THE OFFENSE; AND BY ADDING SECTION 16-3-760 SO AS TO CREATE THE OFFENSE OF SEXUAL BATTERY WITH A STUDENT AND TO PROVIDE PENALTIES BASED ON THE AGE OF THE STUDENT.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 16-15-342 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 208 of 2004, is amended to read:
"Section 16-15-342. (A) A person eighteen years of age or older commits the offense of criminal solicitation of a minor if he knowingly contacts or communicates with, or attempts to contact or communicate with, a person who is under the age of eighteen, or a person reasonably believed to be under the age of eighteen, for the purpose of or with the intent of persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing the person to engage or participate in a sexual activity as defined in Section 16-15-375(5) or a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60, or with the intent to perform a sexual activity in the presence of the person under the age of eighteen, or person reasonably believed to be under the age of eighteen.
(B) Consent is a defense to a prosecution pursuant to this section if the person under the age of eighteen, or the person reasonably believed to be under the age of eighteen, is at least sixteen years old.
(C) Consent is not a defense to a prosecution pursuant to this section if the person under the age of eighteen, or the person reasonably believed to be under the age of eighteen, is under the age of sixteen.
(D) It is not a defense to a prosecution pursuant to this section, on the basis of consent or otherwise, that the person reasonably believed to be under the age of eighteen is a law enforcement agent or officer acting in an official capacity.
(E) A person who violates the provisions of this section: is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than ten years, or both
(1) for a first offense, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than twenty-five thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than twenty-five years, or both; and
(2) for a second or subsequent offense, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than twenty-five thousand dollars and imprisoned for not less than a mandatory minimum of five years nor more than twenty-five years, no part of which may be suspended nor probation granted."
SECTION 2. Article 7, Chapter 3, Title 16 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 16-3-760. (A) For purposes of this section:
(1) 'Aggravated coercion' means that the person affiliated with a public or private secondary school in an official capacity threatens to use force or violence of a high and aggravated nature to overcome the student, if the student reasonably believes that the person has the present ability to carry out the threat, or threatens to retaliate in the future by the infliction of physical harm, kidnapping, or extortion, under circumstances of aggravation, against the student.
(2) 'Aggravated force' means that the person affiliated with a public or private secondary school in an official capacity uses physical force or physical violence of a high and aggravated nature to overcome the student or includes the threat of the use of a deadly weapon.
(3) 'Person affiliated with a public or private secondary school in an official capacity' means an administrator, teacher, substitute teacher, teacher's assistant, student teacher, law enforcement officer, school bus driver, guidance counselor, or coach who is affiliated with a public or private secondary school but is not a student enrolled in the school.
(4) 'Secondary school' means either a junior high school or a high school.
(5) 'Sexual battery' means sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person's body or of any object into the genital or anal openings of another person's body, except when such intrusion is accomplished for medically recognized treatment or diagnostic purposes.
(6) 'Student' means a person who is enrolled in a school.
(B) If a person affiliated with a public or private secondary school in an official capacity engages in sexual battery with a student enrolled in the school who is sixteen or seventeen years of age and aggravated coercion or aggravated force is not used to accomplish the sexual battery, the person affiliated with the public or private secondary school in an official capacity is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than five years.
(C) If a person affiliated with a public or private secondary school in an official capacity engages in sexual battery with a student enrolled in the school who is eighteen years of age or older and aggravated coercion or aggravated force is not used to accomplish the sexual battery, the person affiliated with the public or private secondary school in an official capacity is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for thirty days, or both.
(D) This section does not apply if the person affiliated with a public or private secondary school in an official capacity is lawfully married to the student at the time of the act."
SECTION 3. The repeal or amendment by this act of any law, whether temporary or permanent or civil or criminal, does not affect pending actions, rights, duties, or liabilities founded thereon, or alter, discharge, release or extinguish any penalty, forfeiture, or liability incurred under the repealed or amended law, unless the repealed or amended provision shall so expressly provide. After the effective date of this act, all laws repealed or amended by this act must be taken and treated as remaining in full force and effect for the purpose of sustaining any pending or vested right, civil action, special proceeding, criminal prosecution, or appeal existing as of the effective date of this act, and for the enforcement of rights, duties, penalties, forfeitures, and liabilities as they stood under the repealed or amended laws.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
