Senate Bill No. 379
(By Senator Snyder)
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[Introduced February 2, 1999;
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
three-a, relating to creating the crime of sexual assault
during the commission of a felony; and setting forth the
penalty for such crime.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
three-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8B. SEXUAL OFFENSES.
§61-8B-3a. Sexual assault during the commission of a felony;
penalty.
(a) A person is guilty of sexual assault during the
commission of a felony when such person engages in sexual
intercourse or sexual intrusion with another person and does so
in the commission of, or attempt to commit, kidnapping, robbery,
burglary, breaking and entering, or escape from lawful custody.
(b) Any person who violates the provisions of this section
shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be imprisoned in the penitentiary for life, or fined not less
than one thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars and
imprisoned in the penitentiary for life.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the new offense
of sexual assault during the commission of a felony and to make
the penalty for such crime life in prison, in order to give
prosecutors one more option to exercise when prosecuting
particularly heinous sexual assaults.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.