A bill to redefine sex crimes introduced by Rep. Stanley Cox, R-Sedalia, is now under review at Gov. Nixon’s office.
The changes are part of a revision to the entire Missouri Criminal Code recommended by the Missouri Bar, said Colleen Coble, chief executive officer of the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
“This bill will benefit those who are victims of rape but who were not able to have the cases against their offenders prosecuted because the law wasn’t sufficient,” Coble said.
Under this bill, the offenses of forcible rape and sexual assault are renamed first- and second-degree rape, forcible sodomy and deviate sexual assault are renamed first- and second degree-sodomy, and sexual abuse and sexual misconduct are renamed first- and second-degree sexual abuse. According to Coble, the new definitions should help the prosecution.
“If (the crimes) are rape first degree and rape second degree, with rape second degree being a lesser crime, that means if the jury believes they don’t have enough evidence to convict on a first degree rape charge, they can, with the evidence presented in the trial, convict second degree,” Coble said.
Current law stipulates that forcible rape, forcible sodomy and sexual abuse occur only when the offender uses physical force or substances that render the victim incapable of consent. The proposed bill would specify that engaging in sexual conduct with a person who is incapacitated to consent due to voluntary drug use, mental disease or intoxication is also a sex offense.
“Under current law, the only time that being unable to consent is an element of felony level sex offenses is if the attacker drugs you,” Coble said. “If you are medically sedated, if you are voluntarily intoxicated and are been preyed upon, which is very common, then the law did not cover the crime against you as a felony. This revision to how we define consent and what the elements are of felony level sexual assault crimes are going to make a tremendous difference.”
In addition, the proposal repeals a provision that specifies that if a person becomes incapacitated after consenting to act, he or she is not considered incapable of consent.
“I think it is very clear that sex offenders are predators, and so they seek out vulnerable victims,” Coble said. “What we have done with the passage of this bill is clarify and include vulnerable people very clearly in the felony rape charges.”
Another provision in the bill makes it possible for any victim of domestic violence and stalking to file for a protective order by changing the condition that a victim must be 18 or older to seek relief. The court must issue a full order of protection for at least 180 days if the plaintiff proves allegations of domestic violence and the defendant cannot otherwise justify the actions under the law.
“We have worked very hard to ensure that the whole range of experiences that rape survivors commonly have are reflected in the criminal laws, and I think this is some of the best significant changes in decades, Coble said.
