Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Sponsor seeks fix to close ‘victim-unaware’ loophole in health-care-worker assault law
Summary
Rep. Sarah Hannon and survivors urged the House Health & Social Services Committee to approve House Bill 242, which would remove a statutory requirement that offenders "know" victims were unaware during sexual-contact offenses by health-care workers, a change sponsors say would let prosecutors pursue cases where victims were conscious but frozen by fear.
Representative Sarah Hannon reintroduced House Bill 242 on Tuesday, telling the House Health and Social Services Committee the measure is a narrow technical fix to Alaska’s assault statutes to ensure that patients who are aware of sexual contact by a health-care worker can still trigger first- or second-degree charges.
Hannon said the change responds to a high-profile Juneau prosecution that exposed a gap in the current law, which requires prosecutors to prove the offender knew the victim was unaware. "This bill is a technical cleanup bill," she said, adding…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
