FRANKFORT-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.