West Virginia Senate passes bill that would remove marital exemption for sexual abuse
Hindustan TimesCHARLESTON, W.Va. — Married people in West Virginia could be charged with certain sexual assault acts against their spouses for the first time under a bill passed by West Virginia’s Republican-dominated Senate on Monday. HT Image The bill, pushed by former prosecuting attorney Republican Sen. Ryan Weld of Brooke County, would remove marriage as a defense to first- and third-degree sexual assault. “And I think now is the time to correct an injustice.” Weld explained that there are two crimes of sexual violence outlined in West Virginia code: One is penetrative rape, and the other is the forcible touching of a person's sexual organs, breasts, buttocks or anus by another person. “This is carrying on what I believe to be an unfinished job that she wasn’t able to get done before she unfortunately passed away in 1980,” Weld said of the bill.
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A West Virginia bill to remove marital exemption for sexual abuse wins final passage
Associated Press)
Child marriage ban bill resurrected in West Virginia Senate
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