Disclaimer Contents State List
The information provided is not
for commercial use it is intended only for informational use. There has been
no attempt to make a complete list of all or related statutes. There is no
guarantee of the completeness or accuracy of the information provided. Please Seek Professional Legal advice and visit the State’s official web
site and consult the Bound Volumes of the State’s Statutes for more
information.
URL:
LEG.WA.GOV/
(1) Classified Felonies. (a) The particular
classification of each felony defined in Title 9A
RCW is expressly designated in the section defining it.
(b) For purposes of sentencing, classified
felonies are designated as one of three classes, as follows:
(i) Class A felony; or
(ii) Class B felony; or
(iii) Class C felony.
(2) Misdemeanors and Gross Misdemeanors. (a)
Any crime punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by
imprisonment in a county jail for not more than ninety days, or by both such
fine and imprisonment is a misdemeanor. Whenever the performance of any act is
prohibited by any statute, and no penalty for the violation of such statute is
imposed, the committing of such act shall be a misdemeanor.
(b) All crimes other than felonies and
misdemeanors are gross misdemeanors.
Luring.
A person commits the crime of luring if the
person:
(1)(a) Orders, lures, or attempts to lure a
minor or a person with a developmental disability into any area or structure
that is obscured from or inaccessible to the public or into a motor vehicle;
(b) Does not have the consent of the minor's
parent or guardian or of the guardian of the person with a developmental
disability; and
(c) Is unknown to the child or developmentally
disabled person.
(2) It is a defense to luring, which the
defendant must prove by a preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant's
actions were reasonable under the circumstances and the defendant did not have
any intent to harm the health, safety, or welfare of the minor or the person
with the developmental disability.
(3) For purposes of this section:
(a) "Minor" means a person under the
age of sixteen;
(b) "Person with a developmental
disability" means a person with a developmental disability as defined in
RCW 71A.10.020.
(4) Luring is a class C felony.
(1) A person is guilty of rape in the first
degree when such person engages in sexual intercourse with another person by
forcible compulsion where the perpetrator or an accessory:
(a) Uses or threatens to use a deadly weapon or what appears to be a deadly
weapon; or
(b) Kidnaps the victim; or
(c) Inflicts serious physical injury,
including but not limited to physical injury which renders the victim
unconscious; or
(d) Feloniously enters into the building or
vehicle where the victim is situated.
(2) Rape in the first degree is a class A
felony.
No person convicted of rape in the first
degree shall be granted a deferred or suspended sentence except for the purpose
of commitment to an inpatient treatment facility: PROVIDED, That every person
convicted of rape in the first degree shall be confined for a minimum of three
years: PROVIDED FURTHER, That the *board of prison terms and paroles shall have
authority to set a period of confinement greater than three years but shall
never reduce the minimum three-year period of confinement; nor shall the board
release the convicted person during the first three years of confinement as a
result of any type of good time calculation; nor shall the department of
corrections permit the convicted person to participate in any work release
program or furlough program during the first three years of confinement. This
section applies only to offenses committed prior to July 1, 1984.
(1) A person is guilty of rape in the second degree when,
under circumstances not constituting rape in the first degree, the person engages
in sexual intercourse with another person:.
(a) By forcible compulsion;
(b) When the victim is incapable of consent by reason
of being physically helpless or mentally incapacitated;
(c) When the victim is developmentally disabled and
the perpetrator is a person who is not married to the victim and who has
supervisory authority over the victim;
(d) When the perpetrator is a health care provider,
the victim is a client or patient, and the sexual intercourse occurs during a
treatment session, consultation, interview, or examination. It is an
affirmative defense that the defendant must prove by a preponderance of the
evidence that the client or patient consented to the sexual intercourse with
the knowledge that the sexual intercourse was not for the purpose of treatment;
(e) When the victim is a resident of a facility for
mentally disordered or chemically dependent persons and the perpetrator is a
person who is not married to the victim and has supervisory authority over the
victim; or
(f) When the victim is a frail elder or vulnerable
adult and the perpetrator is a person who is not married to the victim and who
has a significant relationship with the victim.
(2) Rape in the second degree is a class A felony.
(1) A person is guilty of rape in the third degree when,
under circumstances not constituting rape in the first or second degrees, such
person engages in sexual intercourse with another person, not married to the
perpetrator:
(a) Where the victim did not consent as defined in
RCW 9A.44.010(7), to sexual intercourse
with the perpetrator and such lack of consent was clearly
expressed by the victim's words or conduct, or
(b) Where there is threat of substantial unlawful
harm to property rights of the victim.
(2) Rape in the third degree is a class C felony.
(1) A person is guilty of rape of a child in
the first degree when the person has sexual intercourse with another who is
less than twelve years old and not married to the perpetrator and the
perpetrator is at least twenty-four months older than the victim.
(2) Rape of a child in the first degree is a
class A felony.
(1) A person is guilty of rape of a child in
the second degree when the person has sexual intercourse with another who is at
least twelve years old but less than fourteen years old and not married to the
perpetrator and the perpetrator is at least thirty-six months older than the
victim.
(2) Rape of a child in the second degree is a
class A felony.
(1) A person is guilty of rape of a child in
the third degree when the person has sexual intercourse with another who is at
least fourteen years old but less than sixteen years old and not married to the
perpetrator and the perpetrator is at least forty-eight months older than the
victim.
(2) Rape of a child in the third degree is a
class C felony.
Child molestation in the first degree.
(1) A person is guilty of child molestation in
the first degree when the person has, or knowingly causes another person under
the age of eighteen to have, sexual contact with another who is less than
twelve years old and not married to the perpetrator and the perpetrator is at
least thirty-six months older than the victim.
(2) Child molestation in the first degree is a
class A felony.
(1) A person is guilty of child molestation in
the second degree when the person has, or knowingly causes another person under
the age of eighteen to have, sexual contact with another who is at least twelve
years old but less than fourteen years old and not married to the perpetrator
and the perpetrator is at least thirty-six months older than the victim.
(2) Child molestation in the second degree is
a class B felony.
(1) A person is guilty of child molestation in
the third degree when the person has, or knowingly causes another person under
the age of eighteen to have, sexual contact with another who is at least
fourteen years old but less than sixteen years old and not married to the
perpetrator and the perpetrator is at least forty-eight months older than the
victim.
(2) Child molestation in the third degree is a
class C felony.
Sexual misconduct with a
minor in the first degree.
(1) A person is guilty of sexual misconduct
with a minor in the first degree when: (a) The person has, or knowingly causes
another person under the age of eighteen to have, sexual intercourse with
another person who is at least sixteen years old but less than eighteen years
old and not married to the perpetrator, if the perpetrator is at least sixty
months older than the victim, is in a significant relationship to the victim,
and abuses a supervisory position within that relationship in order to engage
in or cause another person under the age of eighteen to engage in sexual
intercourse with the victim; (b) the person is a school employee who has, or
knowingly causes another person under the age of eighteen to have, sexual
intercourse with a registered student of the school who is at least sixteen
years old and not married to the employee, if the employee is at least sixty
months older than the student; or (c) the person is a foster parent who has, or
knowingly causes another person under the age of eighteen to have, sexual
intercourse with his or her foster child who is at least sixteen.
(2) Sexual misconduct with a minor in the first
degree is a class C felony.
(3) For the purposes of this section,
"school employee" means an employee of a common school defined in RCW
28A.150.020, or a grade kindergarten through twelve employee of a private
school under chapter 28A.195 RCW, who is not enrolled as a student of the
common school or private school.
(1) A person is guilty of sexual misconduct
with a minor in the second degree when: (a) The person has, or knowingly causes
another person under the age of eighteen to have, sexual contact with another
person who is at least sixteen years old but less than eighteen years old and
not married to the perpetrator, if the perpetrator is at least sixty months
older than the victim, is in a significant relationship to the victim, and
abuses a supervisory position within that relationship in order to engage in or
cause another person under the age of eighteen to engage in sexual contact with
the victim; (b) the person is a school employee who has, or knowingly causes
another person under the age of eighteen to have, sexual contact with a
registered student of the school who is at least sixteen years old and not
married to the employee, if the employee is at least sixty months older than the
student; or (c) the person is a foster parent who has, or knowingly causes
another person under the age of eighteen to have, sexual contact with his or
her foster child who is at least sixteen.
(2) Sexual misconduct with a minor in the
second degree is a gross misdemeanor.
(3) For the purposes of this section,
"school employee" means an employee of a common school defined in RCW
28A.150.020, or a grade kindergarten through twelve employee of a private
school under chapter 28A.195 RCW, who is not enrolled as a student of the
common school or private school.
(1) A person is guilty of indecent liberties when he or
she knowingly causes another person who is not his or her spouse to have sexual
contact with him or her or another:
(a) By forcible compulsion;
(b) When the other person is incapable of consent by
reason of being mentally defective, mentally incapacitated, or physically
helpless;
(c) When the victim is developmentally disabled and
the perpetrator is a person who is not married to the victim and who has
supervisory authority over the victim;
(d) When the perpetrator is a health care provider,
the victim is a client or patient, and the sexual contact occurs during a
treatment session, consultation, interview, or examination. It is an
affirmative defense that the defendant must prove by a preponderance of the
evidence that the client or patient consented to the sexual contact with the
knowledge that the sexual contact was not for the purpose of treatment;
(e) When the victim is a resident of a facility for
mentally disordered or chemically dependent persons and the perpetrator is a
person who is not married to the victim and has supervisory authority over the
victim; or
(f) When the victim is a frail elder or vulnerable
adult and the perpetrator is a person who is not married to the victim and who has a significant relationship with the victim.
(2)(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection,
indecent liberties is a class B felony.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Intimate areas" means any portion of a
person's body or undergarments that is covered by clothing and intended to be
protected from public view;
(b) "Photographs" or "films"
means the making of a photograph, motion picture film, videotape, digital
image, or any other recording or transmission of the image of a person;
(c) "Place where he or she would have a
reasonable expectation of privacy" means:
(i) A place where a reasonable person would believe
that he or she could disrobe in privacy, without being concerned that his or
her undressing was being photographed or filmed by another; or
(ii) A place where one may reasonably expect to be
safe from casual or hostile intrusion or surveillance;
(d) "Surveillance" means secret observation
of the activities of another person for the purpose of spying upon and invading
the privacy of the person;
(e) "Views" means the intentional looking
upon of another person for more than a brief period of time, in other than a
casual or cursory manner, with the unaided eye or with a device designed or
intended to improve visual acuity.
(2) A person commits the crime of voyeurism if, for
the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any person, he or
she knowingly views, photographs, or films:
(a) Another person without that person's knowledge
and consent while the person being viewed, photographed, or filmed is in a
place where he or she would have a reasonable expectation of privacy; or
(b) The intimate areas of another person without that
person's knowledge and consent and under circumstances where the person has a
reasonable expectation of privacy, whether in a public or private place.
(3) Voyeurism is a class C felony.
(4)
This section does not apply to viewing, photographing, or filming by personnel
of the department of corrections or of a local jail or correctional facility
for security purposes or during investigation of alleged misconduct by a person
in the custody of the department of corrections or the local jail or
correctional facility.
(5)
If a person is convicted of a violation of this section, the court may order
the destruction of any photograph, motion picture film, digital image,
videotape, or any other recording of an image that was made by the person in
violation of this section.
(1) A person is guilty of custodial sexual
misconduct in the first degree when the person has sexual intercourse with
another person:
(a) When:
(i) The victim is a resident of a state,
county, or city adult or juvenile correctional facility, including but not
limited to jails, prisons, detention centers, or work release facilities, or is
under correctional supervision; and
(ii) The perpetrator is an employee or
contract personnel of a correctional agency and the perpetrator has, or the
victim reasonably believes the perpetrator has, the ability to influence the
terms, conditions, length, or fact of incarceration or correctional
supervision; or
(b) When the victim is being detained, under
arrest, or in the custody of a law enforcement officer and the perpetrator is a law
enforcement officer.
(2) Consent of the victim is not a defense to
a prosecution under this section.
(3) Custodial sexual misconduct in the first
degree is a class C felony.
As used in this section and RCW 9A.44.193 and
9A.44.196:
(1) "Covered entity" means any public
facility or private facility whose primary purpose, at any time, is to provide
for the education, care, or recreation of a child or children, including but
not limited to community and recreational centers, playgrounds, schools,
swimming pools, and state or municipal parks.
(2) "Child" means a person under the age of
eighteen, unless the context clearly indicates that the term is otherwise
defined in statute.
(3) "Public facility" means a facility
operated by a unit of local or state government, or by a nonprofit
organization.
(4) "Schools" means public and private
schools, but does not include home-based instruction as defined in RCW
28A.225.010.
(5) "Covered offender" means a person
required to register under RCW 9A.44.130 who is eighteen years of age or older,
who is not under the jurisdiction of the juvenile rehabilitation authority or
currently serving a special sex offender disposition alternative, whose risk
level classification has been assessed at a risk level II or a risk level III
pursuant to RCW 72.09.345, and who, at any time, has been convicted of one or
more of the following offenses:
(a) Rape of a child in the first, second, and third
degree; child molestation in the first, second, and third degree; indecent
liberties against a child under age fifteen; sexual misconduct with a minor in
the first and second degree; incest in the first and second degree; luring with
sexual motivation; possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually
explicit conduct; dealing in depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit
conduct; bringing into the state depictions of minors engaged in sexually
explicit conduct; sexual exploitation of a minor; communicating with a minor
for immoral purposes; patronizing a juvenile prostitute;
(b) Any felony in effect at any time prior to March
20, 2006, that is comparable to an offense listed in (a) of this subsection,
including, but not limited to, statutory rape in the first and second degrees
[degree] and carnal knowledge;
(c) Any felony offense for which:
(i) There was a finding that the offense was
committed with sexual motivation; and
(ii) The victim of the offense was less than sixteen
years of age at the time of the offense;
(d) An attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit
any of the offenses listed in (a) through (c) of this subsection;
(e) Any conviction from any other jurisdiction which
is comparable to any of the offenses listed in (a) through (d) of this
subsection.
Criminal trespass against children.
(1) A person is guilty of the crime of
criminal trespass against children if he or she:
(a) Is a covered offender as defined in RCW
9A.44.190; and
(b)(i) Is personally served with written
notice complying with the requirements of RCW 9A.44.193 that excludes the
covered offender from the legal premises of the covered entity and remains upon
or reenters the legal premises of the covered entity; or
(ii) Is personally served with written notice
complying with the requirements of RCW 9A.44.193 that imposes conditions of
entry and use on the covered offender and violates the conditions of entry and
use.
(2) Criminal trespass against children is a
class C felony.
(1) A person is guilty of coercion if by use
of a threat he compels or induces a person to engage in conduct which the
latter has a legal right to abstain from, or to abstain from conduct which he
has a legal right to engage in.
(2) "Threat" as used in this section
means:
(a) To communicate, directly or indirectly,
the intent immediately to use force against any person who is present at the time; or
(b) Threats as defined in *RCW 9A.04.110(25)
(a), (b), or (c).
(3) Coercion is a gross misdemeanor.
(1) A person commits the crime of stalking if, without
lawful authority and under circumstances not amounting to a felony attempt of
another crime:
(a) He or she intentionally and repeatedly harasses or
repeatedly follows another person; and.
(b) The person being harassed or followed is placed in
fear that the stalker intends to injure the person, another person, or property
of the person or of another person. The feeling of fear must be one that a
reasonable person in the same situation would experience under all the
circumstances; and.
(c) The stalker either:
(i) Intends to frighten, intimidate, or harass the person; or
(ii) Knows or reasonably should know that the person is afraid, intimidated, or harassed even if the stalker did not intend to place the person in fear or intimidate or harass the person.
(2)(a) It is not a defense to the crime of stalking under subsection (1)(c)(i) of this section that the stalker was not given actual notice that the person did not want the stalker to contact or follow the person; and
(b) It is not a defense to the crime of stalking under subsection (1)(c)(ii) of this section that the stalker did not intend to frighten, intimidate, or harass the person.
(3) It shall be a defense to the crime of stalking that the defendant is a licensed private investigator acting within the capacity of his or her license as provided by chapter 18.165 RCW.
(4) Attempts to contact or follow the person after being given actual notice that the person does not want to be contacted or followed constitutes prima facie evidence that the stalker intends to intimidate or harass the person. "Contact" includes, in addition to any other form of contact or communication, the sending of an electronic communication to the person.
(5)(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, a person who stalks another person is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
(b) A person who stalks another is guilty of a class C felony if any of the following applies: (i) The stalker has previously been convicted in this state or any other state of any crime of harassment, as defined in RCW 9A.46.060, of the same victim or members of the victim's family or household or any person specifically named in a protective order; (ii) the stalking violates any protective order protecting the person being stalked; (iii) the stalker has previously been convicted of a gross misdemeanor or felony stalking offense under this section for stalking another person; (iv) the stalker was armed with a deadly weapon, as defined in RCW 9.94A.602, while stalking the person; (v) the stalker's victim is or was a law enforcement officer, judge, juror, attorney, victim advocate, legislator, community corrections' officer, or an employee of the child protective, child welfare, or adult protective services division within the department of social and health services, and the stalker stalked the victim to retaliate against the victim for an act the victim performed during the course of official duties or to influence the victim's performance of official duties; or (vi) the stalker's victim is a current, former, or prospective witness in an adjudicative proceeding, and the stalker stalked the victim to retaliate against the victim as a result of the victim's testimony or potential testimony.
(6) As used in this section:
(a) "Follows" means deliberately
maintaining visual or physical proximity to a specific person over a period of
time. A finding that the alleged stalker repeatedly and deliberately appears at
the person's home, school, place of employment, business, or any other location
to maintain visual or physical proximity to the person is sufficient to find
that the alleged stalker follows the person. It is not necessary to establish
that the alleged stalker follows the person while in transit from one location
to another.
(b) "Harasses" means unlawful harassment as
defined in RCW 10.14.020.
(c) "Protective order" means any temporary or permanent court order prohibiting or limiting violence against, harassment of, contact or communication with, or physical proximity to another person.
(d) "Repeatedly" means on two or more
separate occasions.
(1)(a) A person is guilty of incest in the
first degree if he or she engages in sexual intercourse with a person whom he
or she knows to be related to him or her, either legitimately or
illegitimately, as an ancestor, descendant, brother, or sister of either the
whole or the half blood.
(b) Incest in the first degree is a class B
felony.
(2)(a) A person is guilty of incest in the
second degree if he or she engages in sexual contact with a person whom he or
she knows to be related to him or her, either legitimately or illegitimately,
as an ancestor, descendant, brother, or sister of either the whole or the half
blood.
(b) Incest in the second degree is a class C
felony.
(3) As used in this section:
(a) "Descendant" includes
stepchildren and adopted children under eighteen years of age;
(b) "Sexual contact" has the same
meaning as in RCW 9A.44.010; and
(c) "Sexual intercourse" has the
same meaning as in RCW 9A.44.010.
(1) A person is guilty of indecent exposure if
he or she intentionally makes any open and obscene exposure of his or her
person or the person of another knowing that such conduct is likely to cause
reasonable affront or alarm. The act of breastfeeding or expressing breast milk
is not indecent exposure.
(2)(a) Except as provided in (b) and (c) of
this subsection, indecent exposure is a misdemeanor.
(b) Indecent exposure is a gross misdemeanor
on the first offense if the person exposes himself or herself to a person under
the age of fourteen years.
(c) Indecent exposure is a class C felony if
the person has previously been convicted under this section or of a sex offense
as defined in RCW 9.94A.030.
(1) Prosecutions for criminal offenses shall not be commenced after the
periods prescribed in this section.
(a) The following offenses may be prosecuted at any time after their
commission:
(i) Murder;
(ii) Homicide by abuse;
(iii) Arson if a death results;
(iv) Vehicular homicide;
(v) Vehicular assault if a death results;
(vi) Hit-and-run injury-accident if a death results (RCW 46.52.020(4)).
(b) The following offenses shall not be prosecuted more than ten years after
their commission:
(i) Any felony committed by a public officer if the commission is in connection
with the duties of his or her office or constitutes a breach of his or her
public duty or a violation of the oath of office;
(ii) Arson if no death results; or
(iii) Violations of RCW 9A.44.040 or 9A.44.050 if the rape is reported to a law enforcement
agency within one year of its commission; except that if the victim is under
fourteen years of age when the rape is committed and the rape is reported to a
law enforcement agency within one year of its commission, the violation may be
prosecuted up to three years after the victim's eighteenth birthday or up to
ten years after the rape's commission, whichever is later. If a violation of
RCW 9A.44.040 or 9A.44.050 is not reported within one year, the rape may not be
prosecuted: (A) More than three years after its commission if the violation was
committed against a victim fourteen years of age or older; or (B) more than
three years after the victim's eighteenth birthday or more than seven years
after the rape's commission, whichever is later, if the violation was committed
against a victim under fourteen years of age.
(c) Violations of the following statutes shall
not be prosecuted more than three years after the victim's eighteenth birthday
or more than seven years after their commission, whichever is later: RCW 9A.44.073, 9A.44.076, 9A.44.083, 9A.44.086,
*9A.44.070, 9A.44.080, 9A.44.100(1)(b), or
9A.64.020.
(d) The following offenses shall not be
prosecuted more than six years after their commission: Violations of RCW
9A.82.060 or 9A.82.080.
(e) The following offenses shall not be
prosecuted more than five years after their commission: Any class C felony
under chapter 74.09, 82.36, or 82.38 RCW.
(f) Bigamy shall not be prosecuted more than
three years after the time specified in RCW 9A.64.010.
(g) A violation of RCW 9A.56.030 must not be
prosecuted more than three years after the discovery of the offense when the
victim is a tax exempt corporation under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3).
(h) No other felony may be prosecuted more
than three years after its commission; except that in a prosecution under RCW 9A.44.115, if the person who was viewed,
photographed, or filmed did not realize at the time that he or she was being
viewed, photographed, or filmed, the prosecution must be commenced within two
years of the time the person who was viewed or in the photograph or film first
learns that he or she was viewed, photographed, or filmed.
(i) No gross misdemeanor may be prosecuted more than
two years after its commission.
(j) No misdemeanor may be prosecuted more than one
year after its commission.
(2) The periods of limitation prescribed in
subsection (1) of this section do not run during any time when the person
charged is not usually and publicly resident within this state.
(3) In any prosecution for a sex offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030, the
periods of limitation prescribed in subsection (1) of this section run from the
date of commission or one year from the date on which the identity of the
suspect is conclusively established by deoxyribonucleic acid testing, whichever
is later.
(4) If, before the end of a period of limitation
prescribed in subsection (1) of this section, an indictment has been found or a
complaint or an information has been filed, and the indictment, complaint, or
information is set aside, then the period of limitation is extended by a period
equal to the length of time from the finding or filing to the setting aside.
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