Forcible touching

Last updated

Forcible touching, under New York State law, is a sex offense. [1] [2] A person found guilty of it may be sentenced to up to one year in prison, up to three years probation, may be required to register as a sex offender, and may be ordered to comply with orders of protection.

Contents

A person is guilty of forcible touching in New York State, under NY Penal Law § 130.52 (2022), when such person "intentionally, and for no legitimate purpose: 1. forcibly touches the sexual or other intimate parts of another person for the purpose of degrading or abusing such person, or for the purpose of gratifying the actor's sexual desire; or 2. subjects another person to sexual contact for the purpose of gratifying the actor's sexual desire and with intent to degrade or abuse such other person while such other person is a passenger on a bus, train, or subway car operated by any transit agency, authority or company, public or private, whose operation is authorized by New York state or any of its political subdivisions." [1]

History

The New York State Legislature created the misdemeanor offense of forcible touching in the Sexual Assault Reform Act of 2000, in response to a series of sexual attacks that took place in Central Park in New York City, [3] including the Puerto Rican Day Parade attacks in June 2000, in which dozens of women were attacked and groped in Central Park by groups of men. [4] [5] [6] [7] Previously, defendants accused of groping were prosecuted under a sex abuse statute with a maximum jail sentence of 90 days. [5] Under the new statute, persons convicted of forcible touching may be sentenced to up to a year in jail. [5]

Notable cases

In October 2020, a jury in the District Court of Suffolk County found Rev. Thomas Humphrey, who served as a minister at Grace Community Church and aired a radio show from Hollywood Baptist Church, both in North Amityville, guilty of forcible touching. [8] [9] [10]

In April 2022, actor Cuba Gooding pleaded guilty in New York Criminal Court to forcibly touching a woman at the New York City nightclub LAVO in 2018. [11] He admitted in court that he "kissed the waitress on her lips" without consent at the nightclub. [11] He entered into a plea deal pursuant to which if he continued alcohol and behavior counseling for six months, he could withdraw his misdemeanor plea and plead guilty to harassment, a lesser offense. [12] [13] [11] If he did not comply with the deal, he faced up to one year in jail. [11]

In 2023, in the case of Carroll v. Trump , former U.S. President Donald Trump was charged with, among other things, forcible touching and was sued for civil battery by E. Jean Carroll. [14] The jury held Trump liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of Carroll, and awarded her $5 million. [14] Because the jury found Trump had committed the greater offense of sexual abuse, it was not required to issue a separate finding on forcible touching. [15]

In February 2024, former Olympian, police officer, college coach, and chairman of USA Fencing Ivan Lee was arrested in Brooklyn on charges of forcible touching, sexual abuse, and harassment of a young woman. [16] [17]

Elements

A person is guilty of forcible touching in New York State, under NY Penal Law § 130.52 (2022), when such person

intentionally, and for no legitimate purpose:

  1. forcibly touches the sexual or other intimate parts of another person for the purpose of degrading or abusing such person, or for the purpose of gratifying the actor's sexual desire; or
  2. subjects another person to sexual contact for the purpose of gratifying the actor's sexual desire and with intent to degrade or abuse such other person while such other person is a passenger on a bus, train, or subway car operated by any transit agency, authority or company, public or private, whose operation is authorized by New York state or any of its political subdivisions. [1]

The statute adds that: "For the purposes of this section, forcible touching includes squeezing, grabbing or pinching." [1] In some other states, such nonconsensual acts fall within the statutory definition of laws against sexual abuse or sexual contact. [18]

In addition, an unwanted kiss constitutes forcible touching. [19] [20] [21] It can be inferred from a defendant's conduct that he or she was seeking sexual gratification. [22]

In People v. Sene, 66 AD3d 427, 427-28 (1st Dept 2009), the court concluded that "under general societal norms, the neck qualifies as an intimate part because it is sufficiently personal or private that it would not be touched in the absence of a close relationship between the parties. Moreover, since 'intimacy is a function of behavior and not merely anatomy,' the manner and circumstances of the touching should also be considered...." [23]

The New York Times noted in 2021 that the offense was often charged "in cases involving unwanted sexual advances in public places, and often difficult to prosecute." [5] It was at the time the main charge in approximately 1,400 cases brought annually in New York state, although the cases were dropped almost 40% of the time. [5]

Penalty

Forcible touching is a class A misdemeanor. [1] [24] [25] The maximum punishment for it is one year in prison, and up to three years probation. [26] [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

A misdemeanor is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences. Typically, misdemeanors are punished with prison time of no longer than one year, monetary fines, or community service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuba Gooding Jr.</span> American actor

Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. is an American actor. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in Boyz n the Hood (1991) he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor playing a football star in Jerry Maguire (1996). His other notable films include Outbreak (1995), As Good as It Gets (1997), What Dreams May Come (1998), Men of Honor (2000), Pearl Harbor (2001), Rat Race (2001), The Fighting Temptations (2003), Radio (2003), American Gangster (2007), Red Tails (2012), The Butler (2013), and Selma (2014). He voiced Buck the Horse in the animated feature film Home on the Range (2004).

Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) and housebreaking, is the act of illegally entering a building or other areas without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, larceny, robbery, or murder, but most jurisdictions include others within the ambit of burglary. To commit burglary is to burgle, a term back-formed from the word burglar, or to burglarize.

The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, often called the "Lautenberg Amendment", is an amendment to the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997, enacted by the 104th United States Congress in 1996, which bans access to firearms by people convicted of crimes of domestic violence. The act is often referred to as "the Lautenberg Amendment" after its sponsor, Senator Frank Lautenberg. Lautenberg proposed the amendment after a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, involving underenforcement of domestic violence laws brought under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. President Bill Clinton signed the law as part of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1997.

Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence that includes child sexual abuse, groping, rape, drug facilitated sexual assault, and the torture of the person in a sexual manner.

Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault, which is the act of creating apprehension of such contact.

The Aberdeen Scandal was a military sexual assault scandal in 1996 at Aberdeen Proving Ground, a United States Army base in Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in New York, USA

The Diocese of Rockville Centre is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the Long Island region of New York State in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ages of consent in the United States</span> U.S. law on age of consent to sexual activity

In the United States, each state and territory sets the age of consent either by statute or the common law applies, and there are several federal statutes related to protecting minors from sexual predators. Depending on the jurisdiction, the legal age of consent is between 16 and 18. In some places, civil and criminal laws within the same state conflict with each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyrus Vance Jr.</span> American attorney and politician (born 1954)

Cyrus Roberts Vance Jr. is an American attorney and politician who served as the District Attorney of New York County, New York, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney. He was previously a principal partner at the law firm of Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello, & Bohrer, P.C. He is the son of Cyrus Vance Sr., former Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter. Vance did not seek reelection as District Attorney in the 2021 election, and was succeeded by Alvin Bragg. He is currently a partner at Baker McKenzie.

Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar is an Egyptian businessman. He is the Chairman of El-Mex Salines, an Egyptian salt production company, and was formerly Chairman of Egypt's Bank of Alexandria and head of the Egyptian Banks Federation. In May 2011, he was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a maid in his room at New York City's Pierre Hotel.

The response of the Haredi Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York City, to allegations of sexual abuse against its spiritual leaders has drawn scrutiny. When teachers, rabbis, and other leaders have been accused of sexual abuse, authorities in the Haredi community have often failed to report offenses to Brooklyn police, intimidated witnesses, and encouraged shunning against victims and those members of the community who speak out against cases of abuse.

Expungement in the United States is a process which varies across jurisdictions. Many states allow for criminal records to be sealed or expunged, although laws vary by state. Some states do not permit expungement, or allow expungement under very limited circumstances. In general, once sealed or expunged, all records of an arrest and of any subsequent court proceedings are removed from the public record, and the individual may legally deny or fail to acknowledge ever having been arrested for or charged with any crime which has been expunged.

In May 2014, Isidro Medrano Garcia, who had been living under the name Tomas Medrano or Tomas Madrano, was arrested and accused by police of kidnapping a 15-year-old girl in 2004 and repeatedly raping her and continuing to hold her captive until 2014. Garcia was accused of forcing the alleged victim to marry him in 2007. As time moved on, the woman had a child with Garcia on October 27, 2010, or in 2012, and they continued to live openly together as a family in Bell Gardens, California, until the woman contacted her sister through Facebook and met with her mother in April 2014. She filed a domestic violence complaint with Bell Gardens police on May 19, 2014. As a married couple, Garcia and the woman had an apparently active social life in the community, including hosting large parties and the woman spending time and running errands by herself, having her own car, and working outside the home. However, police said the woman had tried to escape twice and been severely beaten. Through his attorney, Garcia claimed that the woman made up the story of abuse because the couple was breaking up.

Conspiracy against the United States, or conspiracy to defraud the United States, is a federal offense in the United States of America under 18 U.S.C. § 371. The statute originated under a federal law enacted in 1867 that was codified in the Revised Statutes of the United States in 1874, in a subsequent codification of federal penal statutes in 1909, and ultimately in the United States Code in 1948. The crime is that of two or more persons who conspire to commit an offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand jury investigation of Catholic Church sexual abuse in Pennsylvania</span>

A grand jury investigation of Catholic Church sexual abuse in Pennsylvania lasted from 2016 to 2018, and investigated the history of clerical sexual abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses.

Rape in Alabama is currently defined across three sections of its Criminal Code: Definitions, Rape in the First Degree, and Rape in the Second Degree. Each section addresses components of the crime such as age, sentencing, the genders of the individuals involved, and the acts involved.

Rape laws vary across the United States jurisdictions. However, rape is federally defined for statistical purposes as:

Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Cuomo sexual harassment allegations</span>

Andrew Cuomo, the 56th governor of New York, was accused of sexual harassment by multiple women starting in December 2020, with the accusations covering a range of alleged behavior. He denied all allegations and has apologized for his comments being interpreted as sexually charged. On February 28, 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that she would hire and deputize a law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations. On March 11, the New York State Assembly authorized an impeachment investigation into the allegations. In August 2021, James released an investigatory report which stated that Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women during his time in office, with actions such as unwanted groping, kissing and sexual comments. The controversy surrounding these allegations culminated in Governor Cuomo's resignation from office. Cuomo was replaced by his Lieutenant Governor, Kathy Hochul.

The Adult Survivors Act (ASA) is New York State legislation enacted in May 2022 which amends state law to allow alleged victims of sexual offenses for which the statute of limitations has lapsed to file civil suits for a one-year period, from November 24, 2022, to November 24, 2023. The act thus expands the ability of plaintiffs to sue for sexual assault and unwanted sexual contact in the workplace.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "2022 New York Laws: Penal: Part 3 - Specific Offenses: Title H - Offenses Against the Person Involving Physical Injury, Sexual Conduct, Restraint and Intimidation: Article 130 - Sex Offenses: 130.52 - Forcible Touching". Justia Law.
  2. ↑ Lisa Forbes (2022). I Can Take it from Here; A Memoir of Trauma, Prison, and Self-Empowerment
  3. ↑ People v. Nuruzzaman , 8 Misc. 3d 356 (N.Y.C. Criminal Ct. 2005).
  4. ↑ Richard A. Greenberg (2007). New York Criminal Law, Thompson/West, pp. 467-69.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Ashford, Grace (December 1, 2021). "Why It Might Be Difficult to Convict Andrew Cuomo of Forcible Touching; Will a relatively new misdemeanor sex charge, crafted to prosecute stranger gropings, lead to a conviction of a former governor?". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ Brian A. Sharpless (2017). Unusual and Rare Psychological Disorders; A Handbook for Clinical Practice and Research; A Handbook for Clinical Practice and Research, Oxford University Press.
  7. ↑ William Mark McKinney (2004). McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York Annotated; Book 39, West Publishing Company.
  8. ↑ Carolyn James (October 29, 2020). "Jury finds NA church Elder guilty of forcible touching; case brought against him by Deer Park woman". Babylon Beacon.
  9. ↑ "North Amityville minister charged with forcible touching". Amityville Record. January 2, 2019.
  10. ↑ "People v Humphrey (Thomas), NY Slip Op 51380(U), Appellate Term, Second Department". Justia Law. 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. pleads guilty to forcibly touching woman at NY nightclub". USA TODAY. April 13, 2022.
  12. ↑ Christian Holub (October 13, 2022). "Cuba Gooding Jr. will face no jail time in forcible touching case; Six months after pleading guilty to forcibly kissing a waitress, the actor has complied with prosecutors' deal and will not serve jail time". Entertainment Weekly.
  13. ↑ Moreau, Jordan (April 13, 2022). "Cuba Gooding Jr. Pleads Guilty to Forcible Touching". Variety.
  14. 1 2 Fadulu, Lola (May 9, 2023). "New York law gave jurors three types of battery to consider in the Trump case". The New York Times.
  15. ↑ "Read the Completed Jury Verdict Form in the Trump-Carroll Case". The New York Times. May 9, 2023.
  16. ↑ Josh Peter (February 28, 2024). "Ex-US Olympic fencer Ivan Lee arrested on forcible touching, sexual abuse, harassment charges". USA TODAY.
  17. ↑ Pena, Rafael (February 29, 2024). "Former US Olympic Fencer Ivan Lee Arrested on Charges Of Sexual Abuse". Black Enterprise.
  18. ↑ Henry F. Fradella, Jennifer M. Sumner (2016). Sex, Sexuality, Law, and (In)justice, Taylor & Francis.
  19. ↑ "People v. De Oliveira". NY Slip Opinion. 2023.
  20. ↑ Sarah Vasile (June 23, 2022). "Man arrested for allegedly kissing stranger on subway: NYPD". PIX 11.
  21. ↑ "Cuba Gooding Jr. pleads guilty to forcibly kissing a woman". Southern Illinoisan. April 14, 2022.
  22. ↑ People v. Fuller, 50 A.D.3d 1171, 1175 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2008).
  23. ↑ "People v Sene 2009 NY Slip Op 07160 [66 AD3d 427], Appellate Division, First Department". nycourts.gov.
  24. ↑ Tom Winter, Jonathan Dienst and Dareh Gregorian (October 28, 2021). "Andrew Cuomo charged with forcible touching, a misdemeanor sex crime". NBC News.
  25. ↑ Albert, Victoria (October 29, 2021). "Andrew Cuomo accused of forcible touching in criminal complaint". CBS News.
  26. ↑ "Crime Definitions," RAINN.
  27. ↑ Michael Hill (October 29, 2021). "Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo accused of forcible touching in criminal complaint". WBAL.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.