Bill to increase certain sex crime penalties nears House vote

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – A bill that would increase penalties for sex crimes against a victim with an intellectual disability awaits a vote in the full House after passing committee this week.

Under Senate Bill 19, sponsored by Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, those charged with rape and sodomy of a victim who is incapable of consent due to an intellectual disability would face more serious felony charges, while those charged with first-degree sexual abuse of someone with such a disability would face a felony instead of a misdemeanor charge.

The measure was requested by officers with the Paducah Police Department as a result of a 2017 case involving a woman with an intellectual disability who was sexually abused. Law enforcement was not able to make an arrest without a warrant in the case because the offense only carried a misdemeanor charge, Carroll said.

SB 19 would allow law enforcement to make an arrest without requesting a warrant in such cases, he said.

“I love it when a bill comes up that way when it’s actually somebody out in the field who is applying these laws, and they find an inequity in the law or something we need to correct,” Carroll told the House Judiciary Committee before it voted unanimously to approve the bill.

The legislation would also clarify that someone with an intellectual disability is “unable to communicate consent or lack of consent, or unable to understand the nature of the act or its consequences” for the purposes of the bill.

SB 19 has been sent to the full House for consideration.