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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the prosecution of the offense of sexual assault. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Sections 22.011(b) and (f), Penal Code, are |
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amended to read as follows: |
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(b) A sexual assault under Subsection (a)(1) is without the |
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consent of the other person if: |
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(1) the actor compels the other person to submit or |
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participate by the use of physical force, violence, or coercion; |
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(2) the actor compels the other person to submit or |
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participate by threatening to use force or violence against the |
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other person or to cause harm to the other person, and the other |
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person believes that the actor has the present ability to execute |
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the threat; |
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(3) the other person has not consented and the actor |
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knows the other person is unconscious or physically unable to |
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resist; |
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(4) the actor knows that as a result of mental disease |
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or defect the other person is at the time of the sexual assault |
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incapable either of appraising the nature of the act or of resisting |
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it; |
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(5) the other person has not consented and the actor |
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knows the other person is unaware that the sexual assault is |
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occurring; |
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(6) the actor has intentionally impaired the other |
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person's power to appraise or control the other person's conduct by |
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administering any substance without the other person's knowledge; |
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(7) the actor compels the other person to submit or |
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participate by threatening to use force or violence against any |
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person, and the other person believes that the actor has the ability |
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to execute the threat; |
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(8) the actor is a public servant who coerces the other |
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person to submit or participate; |
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(9) the actor is a mental health services provider or a |
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health care services provider who causes the other person, who is a |
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patient or former patient of the actor, to submit or participate by |
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exploiting the other person's emotional dependency on the actor; |
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(10) the actor is a clergyman who causes the other |
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person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person's |
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emotional dependency on the clergyman in the clergyman's |
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professional character as spiritual adviser; [or] |
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(11) the actor is an employee of a facility where the |
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other person is a resident, unless the employee and resident are |
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formally or informally married to each other under Chapter 2, |
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Family Code; or |
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(12) the actor is a health care services provider who, |
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in the course of performing an assisted reproduction procedure on |
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the other person, uses human reproductive material from a donor |
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knowing that the other person has not expressly consented to the use |
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of material from that donor. |
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(f) An offense under this section is a felony of the second |
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degree, except that an offense under this section is: |
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(1) a felony of the first degree if the victim was a |
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person whom the actor was prohibited from marrying or purporting to |
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marry or with whom the actor was prohibited from living under the |
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appearance of being married under Section 25.01; or |
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(2) a state jail felony if the offense is committed |
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under Subsection (a)(1) and the actor has not received express |
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consent as described by Subsection (b)(12). |
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SECTION 2. Section 22.011(c), Penal Code, is amended by |
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adding Subdivisions (6) and (7) to read as follows: |
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(6) "Assisted reproduction" and "donor" have the |
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meanings assigned by Section 160.102, Family Code. |
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(7) "Human reproductive material" means: |
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(A) a human spermatozoon or ovum; or |
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(B) a human organism at any stage of development |
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from fertilized ovum to embryo. |
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SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
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offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed |
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by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former |
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law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this |
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section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this |
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Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |