Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 43 - PUBLIC WELFARE (§§ 43-1-1 — 43-NEW01-012) › Chapter 47 - MISSISSIPPI VULNERABLE PERSONS ACT (§§ 43-47-1 — 43-47-41) › Section 43-47-18 - Sexual battery or fondling of vulnerable person by health care employees or persons in position of trust or authority; penalties

(1)
(a)
A person who engages in sexual penetration with a vulnerable person is guilty of sexual battery if the person is a volunteer at, or an employee of, or contracted to work for, a health care facility in which the vulnerable person is a patient or resident.
(b)
A person who engages in sexual penetration with a vulnerable person is guilty of sexual battery if the person is in a position of trust or authority over the vulnerable person, including, without limitation, the vulnerable person's teacher, counselor, physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse, certified nursing assistant, direct care worker, technical assistant, minister, priest, physical therapist, chiropractor, legal guardian, parent, stepparent, other relative, caretaker or conservator.
(c)
Every person who is convicted of sexual battery under this subsection (1) shall be imprisoned in the custody of the State Department of Corrections for a period of not more than thirty (30) years, and for a second or subsequent such offense shall be imprisoned in the custody of the State Department of Corrections for a period of not more than forty (40) years.
(2)
(a)
Any person who, for the purpose of gratifying the person's lust, or indulging the person's depraved licentious sexual desires, shall handle, touch or rub with hands or any part of the person's body or any member thereof, any vulnerable person, with or without the vulnerable person's consent, when the person is a volunteer at, or an employee of, or contracted to work for, a health care facility in which the vulnerable person is a patient or resident, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in a sum not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or be committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections not less than two (2) nor more than fifteen (15) years, or be punished by both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.
(b)
Any person who, for the purpose of gratifying the person's lust, or indulging the person's depraved licentious sexual desires, shall handle, touch or rub with hands or any part of the person's body or any member thereof, any vulnerable person, with or without the vulnerable person's consent, when the person occupies a position of trust or authority over the vulnerable person, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in a sum not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or be committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections not less than two (2) nor more than fifteen (15) years, or be punished by both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court. A person in a position of trust or authority over a vulnerable person includes, without limitation, the vulnerable person's teacher, counselor, physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse, certified nursing assistant, direct care worker, technical assistant, minister, priest, physical therapist, chiropractor, legal guardian, parent, stepparent, other relative, caretaker or conservator.
(3)
A person is not guilty of any offense under this section if the alleged victim is that person's legal spouse; however, the legal spouse of the alleged victim may be found guilty of sexual battery if the legal spouse engaged in forcible sexual penetration without the consent of the alleged victim.
Laws, 2006, ch. 328, § 2; Laws, 2010, ch. 357, § 10, eff. 7/1/2010.