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POLICE PROSECUTOR UPDATE - JUNE 2002
NEW LEGISLATION - Amendments to existing crimes, effective July 1, 2002.
P.L. 59-2002 amended IC 35-42-3-3 to make Criminal Confinement a Class B felony if committed on an aircraft.
P.L. 88-2002 amended IC 35-42-2-6 to make it Battery by Body Waste when a person places human blood, semen, urine, or fecal waste on another person. A Class A misdemeanor. The offense is a Class D, C, or B felony if certain additional requirements are satisfied.
P.L. 118-2002 amended IC 35-42-4-5 to create the crime of Fondling in the Presence of a Minor, a Class D felony. This offense is committed when a person 18 years of age or older touches or fondles himself in the presence of a child less than 14 years of age with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of the child or the older person.
The Child Solicitation law, IC 35-42-4-6, was also amended. It provides that "solicit" means to command, authorize, urge, incite, request, or advise an individual: in person, by telephone, in writing, by using a computer network, by advertisement of any kind, or by any other means to perform a prohibited act. Also, the victim will now include, "or an individual the person believes to be a child under 14 years of age."
A number of statutes were amended by P.L. 123-2002. Arson, IC 35-43-1-1, may now also be committed by means of a "destructive device," as can false reporting under IC 35-44-2-2(b)(1).
Disorderly Conduct, IC 35-45-1-3, will be a Class D felony if it adversely affects airport security and is committed in an airport or on the premises of an airport, including in a parking area, a maintenance bay, or an aircraft hangar.
Money Laundering, IC 35-45-15-5, will be a Class C felony if the person commits the crime with the intent to commit or promote an act of terrorism or to obtain or transport a weapon of mass destruction. It will be a Class B felony if the value of the proceeds or funds is at least $50,000 and the person commits the crime with the intent to commit or promote an act of terrorism or to obtain or transport a weapon of mass destruction.
IC 35-47-5-1 was repealed, effective July 1. IC 35-47-5-8 and IC 35-47-5-9 were amended to delete any reference to a bomb.
Finally, the crimes of Terrorism, IC 35-47-12-1, and agricultural terrorism, IC 35-47-12-2, were amended to expand the means by which they can be committed to include possessing a weapon of mass destruction.
P.L. 133-2002 expanded the means by which Involuntary Manslaughter, IC 35-42-1-4, may be committed. It will be a Class D felony if a child care provider recklessly supervises a child and the child dies as a result of the child care provider's reckless supervision.
P.L. 3-2002 amended IC 35-42-4-4, IC 35-49-1-3, and IC 35-49-3-3. The amendments prohibit making available to another person a computer containing material harmful to minors. The penalty for Child Exploitation is raised to a Class C felony and for possession of child pornography to a Class D felony. It specifies that the laws concerning child exploitation, possession of child pornography, and obscenity and pornography apply to digitized images. It excludes from the crime of dissemination of matter harmful to minors material sent over the Internet, unless the matter is obscene, is child pornography, or was deliberately sent to a child the sender knows is less than 18 years of age.
Finally, P.L. 132-2002 restricts Cruelty to an Animal under IC 35-46-3-12 to the act of beating a vertebrate animal. But it increases the penalty to a Class D felony if the person tortures or mutilates a vertebrate animal.
This is a publication of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney, covering
various topics of interest to law enforcement officers. It is directed
solely toward issues of evidence, criminal law and procedure. Please
consult your city, town, or county attorney for legal advice relating to
civil liability. Please direct any suggestions you may have for future
issues to Steve Stewart at 285-6264.
