SPONSOR:	Rep. Longhurst & Sen. Hall-Long
	Reps. Barbieri, Bennett, Carson, Hudson, J. Johnson, Q. Johnson, Keeley, Mitchell, Mulrooney, Plant, Schooley, Schwartzkopf; Sen. Henry, Peterson

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 145th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 348

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SPECIFIC OFFENSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. Amend §1105, Title 11 of the Delaware Code by deleting the existing section in its entirety and substituting a new "§1105" in lieu thereof as follows:

"§1105.Crime Against the Vulnerable or Infirm.

(a)                 Any person who commits, or attempts to commit, any of the crimes described in subsection (g) below, against:

(1) a person who is a vulnerable adult; or

(2) a person who is an infirm adult is guilty of a Crime Against the Vulnerable or Infirm.

(b) A Crime Against the Vulnerable or Infirm shall be punished as follows:

(1)                 If the underlying offense is an unclassified misdemeanor, or a class B misdemeanor, the Crime Against the Vulnerable or Infirm shall be a class A misdemeanor;

(2)                 If the underlying offense is a class A misdemeanor, the Crime Against the Vulnerable or Infirm shall be a class G felony;

(3)                 If the underlying offense is a class C, D, E, F, or G felony, the Crime Against the Vulnerable or Infirm shall be one class higher than the underlying offense; and

(4) If the underlying offense is a class A or B felony, the Crime Against the Vulnerable or Infirm shall be the same grade as the underlying offense, and the minimum sentence of imprisonment required for the underlying offense shall be doubled.

(c)     "Vulnerable adult" shall mean a person 18 years of age or older who, due to coercion, intimidation, fear, or dependency, or by reason of mental or physical limitation(s), or mental illness or disability, can be influenced to act in a manner inconsistent with the person's own best interests regarding his or her person or property.

(d)     "Infirm adult," as defined by Chapter 39 of Title 31, shall mean any person 18 years of age or older who, because of physical or mental disability, is substantially impaired in the ability to provide adequately for their own care and custody.

(e)     In any prosecution for a Crime Against the Vulnerable or Infirm, it shall not be a defense that the accused did not know that the victim was a vulnerable or infirm adult.

(f)      A person cannot be convicted of both the underlying offense and this offense if the underlying crime has 62 or older or infirm adult charged as an element of the offense.

(g)The underlying offenses to which this crime applies shall be:

Title 11:

§ 601. Offensive touching

§602(a). Menacing

§ 602(b). Aggravated Menacing

§ 603. Reckless endangering in the second degree

§604. Reckless endangering in the first degree

§605. Abuse of a pregnant female in the second degree

§606. Abuse of a pregnant female in the first degree

§611. Assault in the third degree

§612. Assault in the second degree

§613. Assault in the first degree

§621. Terroristic threatening

§622. Hoax device

§625. Unlawfully administering drugs

§626. Unlawfully administering controlled substance or counterfeit substance or narcotic drugs

§645. Promoting suicide

§651. Abortion

§763. Sexual harassment

§764. Indecent exposure in the second degree

§766. Incest

§767. Unlawful sexual contact in the third degree

§769. Unlawful sexual contact in the first degree

§ 770. Rape in the fourth degree

§771. Rape in the third degree

§772. Rape in the second degree

§773. Rape in the first degree

§776. Sexual extortion

§780. Female genital mutilation

§781. Unlawful imprisonment in the second degree

§782. Unlawful imprisonment in the first degree

§783. Kidnapping in the second degree

§783A. Kidnapping in the first degree

§791. Acts constituting coercion

§803. Criminal mischief

§825. Burglary in the second degree

§826. Burglary in the first degree

§831. Robbery in the second degree

§832. Robbery in the first degree

§835. Carjacking in the second degree

§836. Carjacking in the first degree

§841. Theft

§842. Theft; lost or mislaid property

§841A. Theft of a motor vehicle

§843. Theft; false pretense

§844. Theft; false promise

§846. Extortion

§848. Misapplication of property

§853. Unauthorized use of a vehicle

§854. Identity theft

§861. Forgery

§903. Unlawful use of credit card

§909. Securing execution of documents by deception

§914. Use of consumer identification information

§916. Home improvement fraud

§917. New home construction fraud

§1001. Bigamy

§1311. Harassment

§1312. Stalking

§1335. Violation of privacy

§1339. Adulteration

§1451. Theft of a firearm

Title 6:

§7322. Securities Fraud.".

SYNOPSIS

This purpose of this Act is to provide greater protections for Delaware's vulnerable and infirm adults, individuals the General Assembly considers to be particularly at risk of physical, emotional and/or financial exploitation.The Act creates a new criminal offense, Crime Against the Vulnerable or Infirm, which imposes enhanced penalties in more than 60 criminal offenses if the victim is a vulnerable or infirm adult.