ATLANTA – State Representative Kevin Levitas (D- Atlanta) will pre-file legislation next week to close a loophole in Georgia’s sexual assault law that allows offenders to escape punishment for sexual assault.
Levitas said that his new legislation would fix a hole in state law that permits teachers engaging in sex with their student to evade criminal liability by establishing that the student was not under 16 years old and that the sex was consensual. Levitas explained that the sexual assault law was intended to keep not only teachers, but also law enforcement officers, nursing home workers and others from having sex with people over whom they have supervisory or disciplinary authority.
“The Georgia Supreme Court did not interpret the law to shield victims of sexual assault from claims of ‘consent’ by sexual predators,” Levitas said. “My bill, however, reaffirms the legislature’s intent to protect from abuse those who are not in a position to protect themselves by removing consent as a defense to these crimes.”
Earlier this year, a majority of the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in Chase v. State that the legislature had not intended to remove consent as a defense to a charge of sexual assault. Levitas praised the dissenting opinion in Chase, authored by Justice George Carley, and said that his bill would correct, once and for all, any misinterpretation of the intent of the General Assembly regarding Georgia’s sexual assault law.
Rep. Levitas’ bill will be assigned a number and then referred to a House committee when the General Assembly convenes in January.
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Representative Kevin Levitas represents the citizens of District 82, which includes portions of DeKalb County. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2005, and currently serves on the Judiciary Non-Civil, Science and Technology, Transportation, and Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committees.