Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Care Facility Protections topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Utah Senate approves care‑provider abuse bill after heated debate over consent and vulnerability
Summary
The Utah Senate on the floor passed second substitute Senate Bill 81, a measure that creates a new misdemeanor offense for certain intimate sexual conduct between caregivers and individuals the bill describes as having a vulnerability.
The Utah Senate on the floor passed second substitute Senate Bill 81, a measure that creates a new misdemeanor offense for certain intimate sexual conduct between caregivers and individuals the bill describes as having a vulnerability. The Senate recorded 21 yeas, 7 nays and 1 absent; the bill will be sent to the House for consideration.
Supporters said the statute targets consensual intimate activity that occurs in care settings when the caregiver is not a licensed professional and therefore not subject to licensing sanctions. "If you are mentally disabled to the point in which you cannot provide consent, that is 100% still ****. There is nothing that changes that," sponsor Senator Plumb said, adding that the bill was vetted with prosecutors and the attorney general's office.
Opponents warned the bill could weaken protections for people who cannot consent. "My worry that by defining it like that, that we are including people whose vulnerability makes them impossible to give consent... we are taking this situation that is in fact **** and declassifying it as **** and just calling it ****** relations... changing it from a felony... to a class A misdemeanor," Senator Fillmore said, citing scenarios in long‑term care where resident capacity can be unclear.
Senator Wyler, who explained his vote on the floor, said proving sexual assault can be difficult in court and that the bill is intended to add protections in spaces where nonlicensed care providers are involved. "I think what this bill does... I don't think that this is condoning ****** people who can't consent. I think it makes it very clear that this is a serious crime," Wyler said, and announced he would vote aye.
The sponsor said the measure was developed during months of stakeholder work with prosecutors, defense attorneys, victims' advocates and families to find language that addresses consensual intimate activity that nevertheless presents patient‑protection concerns when a caregiver is not licensed. The bill's definition of "individual with a vulnerability" and the bill's scope prompted the most sustained questioning on the floor.
Action and next steps: Second substitute Senate Bill 81 passed the Senate and will be transmitted to the Utah House for further consideration.
Votes at a glance: second substitute Senate Bill 81 — passed, 21 yea, 7 nay, 1 absent.
