New Laws - Sexual Offenses
The Louisiana Legislature is, once again, in session, and has been busy passing new legislation that impacts all aspects of Louisianan’s lives. Of specific interest to us over the next few weeks are the changes they have made to various criminal offenses and procedures.
The legislature enacted a new offense criminalizing “Possessing, trafficking, or importing a child sex doll.” La. R.S. 14:81.6. This crime is defined as:
(1) A person commits the crime of possessing a child sex doll by intentionally or knowingly possessing a child sex doll.
(2) A person commits the crime of trafficking a child sex doll by knowingly manufacturing, distributing, selling, transferring, offering to sell, advertising, providing, shipping, delivering for shipment, offering to deliver for shipment, or possessing with the intent to manufacture, distribute, sell, ship, or transfer a child sex doll.
(3) A person commits the crime of importing a child sex doll by knowingly transporting, or causing to be transported, a child sex doll into this state by any means with the intent to distribute, sell, or transfer the child sex doll to another, whether or not the person has taken actual possession of the child sex doll.
La. R.S. 14:81.6(A). A “child sex doll” is defined as:
an anatomically correct doll, mannequin, or robot that both:
(1) Has the features of or features that resemble those of an infant or a child under 18 years of age.
(2) Is intended to be used for sexual stimulation or gratification.
La. R.S. 14:81.6(B)(2). A person who violates the first subsection of this statute shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not more than 1 year and/or a fine of not more than $5,000. La. R.S. 14:81.6(E)(1). A person who violates the second subsection of this statute shall be imprisoned for not less than 6 months nor more than one years and/or fined not more than $10,000. La. R.S. 14:81.6(E)(2). A person convicted for violating the third subsection of this statute shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than 1 year nor more than 2 years and/or fined not more than $20,000. La. R.S. 14:81.6(E)(3).
The legislature also amended the Human Trafficking statute to clarify the conduct prohibited as any sex offense contained in the registration statute. La. R.S. 14:46.2(B)(2)(a). The legislature amended the penalties to be life imprisonment without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence when the offense involves person under the age of 18. La. R.S. 14:46.2(B)(2)(c). When the offense involves an individual between the ages of 18 and 21, the term of imprisonment shall be imprisonment at hard labor for a minimum of 15 years and up to 50 years. La. R.S. 14:46.2(B)(2)(b).
Finally, the legislature amended the Molestation of a juvenile statute to increase the minimum penalty from 5 to 10 years when the victim is between 13 and 17 and when the offender has control or supervision over the victim. La. R.S. 14:81.2(B)(2). When the victim is between 13 and 17 and the offender “is in a position of supervision or entrusted with a supervisory role of the juvenile that includes but is not limited to a religious, charitable, scientific, educational, athletic, or youth-serving purpose or is an educator of the juvenile,” the penalty shall be a minimum of 10 years up to a maximum of 40 years, and 10 years shall be without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. La. R.S. 14:81.2(B)(3)(a).
Should you or someone you know be facing criminal prosecution, give us a call at (318) 459-9111 to schedule a consult.