GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 1999

SESSION LAW 1999-300
SENATE BILL 742

AN ACT TO MAKE IT UNLAWFUL FOR SCHOOL PERSONNEL TO ENGAGE IN SEXUAL ACTS WITH A STUDENT.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  Article 26 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 14-202.4.  Taking indecent liberties with a student.
(a)	If a defendant, who is a teacher, school administrator, student teacher, or coach, at any age, or who is other school personnel and is at least four years older than the victim, takes indecent liberties with a victim who is a student, at any time during or after the time the defendant and victim were present together in the same school but before the victim ceases to be a student, the defendant is guilty of a Class I felony, unless the conduct is covered under some other provision of law providing for greater punishment.  The term "same school" means a school at which the student is enrolled and the school personnel is employed or volunteers. A person is not guilty of taking indecent liberties with a student if the person is lawfully married to the student.
(b)	If a defendant, who is school personnel, other than a teacher, school administrator, student teacher, or coach, and who is less than four years older than the victim, takes indecent liberties with a student as provided in subsection (a) of this section, the defendant is guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor.
(c)	Consent is not a defense to a charge under this section.
(d)	For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1)	"Indecent liberties" means:
a.	Willfully taking or attempting to take any immoral, improper, or indecent liberties with a student for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire; or
b.	Willfully committing or attempting to commit any lewd or lascivious act upon or with the body or any part or member of the body of a student.
For purposes of this section, the term indecent liberties does not include vaginal intercourse or a sexual act as defined by G.S. 14-27.1.
(2)	"School" means any public school, charter school, or nonpublic school under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 39 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes.
(3)	"School personnel" means any person included in the definition contained in G.S. 115C-332(a)(2), and any person who volunteers at a school or a school-sponsored activity.
(4)	"Student" means a person enrolled in kindergarten, or in grade one through grade 12 in any school."
Section 2. G.S. 14-27.7 reads as rewritten:
"§ 14-27.7.  Intercourse and sexual offenses with certain victims; consent no defense.
(a)	If a defendant who has assumed the position of a parent in the home of a minor victim engages in vaginal intercourse or a sexual act with a victim who is a minor residing in the home, or if a person having custody of a victim of any age or a person who is an agent or employee of any person, or institution, whether such institution is private, charitable, or governmental, having custody of a victim of any age engages in vaginal intercourse or a sexual act with such victim, the defendant is guilty of a Class E felony.  Consent is not a defense to a charge under this section.
(b)	If a defendant, who is a teacher, school administrator, student teacher, or coach, at any age, or who is other school personnel, and who is at least four years older than the victim engages in vaginal intercourse or a sexual act with a victim who is a student, at any time during or after the time the defendant and victim were present together in the same school, but before the victim ceases to be a student, the defendant is guilty of a Class G felony, except when the defendant is lawfully married to the student.  The term "same school" means a school at which the student is enrolled and the school personnel is employed or volunteers.  A defendant who is school personnel, other than a teacher, school administrator, student teacher, or coach, and is less than four years older than the victim and engages in vaginal intercourse or a sexual act with a victim who is a student, is guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor. This subsection shall apply unless the conduct is covered under some other provision of law providing for greater punishment.  Consent is not a defense to a charge under this section.  For purposes of this subsection, the terms "school", "school personnel", and "student" shall have the same meaning as in G.S. 14-202.4(d)."
Section 3.  This act becomes effective December 1, 1999, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 13th day of July, 1999.

s/	Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate

s/	James B. Black
Speaker of the House of Representatives

s/	James B. Hunt, Jr.
Governor

Approved 8:38 a.m. this 15th day of July, 1999