Opinion ID: 1404274
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Indecent Liberties and Abuse of a Position of Trust

Text: Defendant was convicted of indecent liberties under former RCW 9A.44.100(1), which provided four distinct means by which a person could commit the crime: (a) By forcible compulsion; or (b) When the other person is less than fourteen years of age; or (c) When the other person is less than sixteen years of age and the perpetrator is more than forty-eight months older than the person and is in a position of authority over the person ; or (d) When the other person is incapable of consent by reason of being mentally defective, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless. (Italics ours.) Defendant was charged and convicted under former RCW 9A.44.100(1)(b). Nevertheless, the Court of Appeals concluded abuse of a position of trust was not an appropriate aggravating factor for sentencing. The Court of Appeals looked to former RCW 9A.44.100(1)(c), which did expressly require a position of authority, and concluded the Legislature had already considered the abuse of a position of trust when establishing the standard sentence range for the indecent liberties statute as a whole. Grewe, 59 Wn. App. at 149. [2] The Court of Appeals' ruling addresses the legal adequacy of the asserted aggravating factor. We review such a determination using a matter of law standard. State v. Dunaway, 109 Wn.2d 207, 218, 743 P.2d 1237, 749 P.2d 160 (1987). [3] In our review as to the legal adequacy of an aggravating factor, we employ a 2-part analysis. First, a trial court may not base an exceptional sentence on factors necessarily considered by the Legislature in establishing  the standard sentence range. Second, the asserted aggravating factor must be sufficiently substantial and compelling to distinguish the crime in question from others in the same category. Dunaway, 109 Wn.2d at 218-19; Nordby, 106 Wn.2d at 518; State v. Dunivan, 57 Wn. App. 332, 337, 788 P.2d 576 (1990). Defendant does not challenge the existence of a position of trust, nor that an abuse of a position of trust may be a proper aggravating factor in some situations. See State v. Oxborrow, 106 Wn.2d at 529 (theft by deception); State v. Creekmore, 55 Wn. App. 852, 862, 783 P.2d 1068 (1989) (felony murder), review denied, 114 Wn.2d 1020 (1990); State v. Strauss, 54 Wn. App. 408, 420-21, 773 P.2d 898 (1989) (rape). Abuse of a position of trust has been expressly extended to apply to sexual offense cases. Pryor, 115 Wn.2d at 451; State v. Harp, 43 Wn. App. 340, 343, 717 P.2d 282 (1986). Nevertheless, defendant argues abuse of a position of trust is not an appropriate aggravating factor for an indecent liberties conviction because one of the four alternative methods of committing the crime includes a position of authority as an element. The essential question here is whether, in setting the standard sentencing range for indecent liberties, the Legislature considered the alternative forms of the crime individually or collectively. Defendant argues that because the Legislature established the same seriousness level for alternative forms (b), (c), and (d) of indecent liberties, the Legislature necessarily considered the elements of alternative method (c) in establishing the standard sentence range for alternative (b). See former RCW 9.94A.320. [4] This analysis, however, requires a strained interpretation of the statute. Given the existence of defendant's position of authority as a school bus driver, he could have been charged under either alternative (b) or (c). However, since both indecent liberties victims were under the age of 14, the prosecutor elected to proceed solely under alternative (b) because it required proof of fewer elements. Under  former RCW 9A.44.100(1)(b), a position of trust or authority was not required  the crime could be committed equally by a stranger or a person in a position of trust. A position of trust becomes relevant only when the victim is between the ages of 14 and 16. The Legislature itself created this distinction. Therefore, the Legislature did not likely consider the abuse of a position of trust in setting the standard sentence range for alternative (b). The cases cited for support by the Court of Appeals are not applicable because each involves double counting of an element of the crime actually charged, not an alternative method of committing the same crime. See Grewe, 59 Wn. App. at 149. Although the case is not cited for this purpose by either of the parties or the court below, we have already spoken directly on this subject. In State v. Fisher, 108 Wn.2d 419, 739 P.2d 683 (1987), we reviewed four aggravating factors supporting an exceptional sentence for indecent liberties under this very statute. One of those aggravating factors was abuse of a position of trust. Although we failed to reach the question of whether the evidence was sufficient to support the existence of the relationship, we did state in dicta that abuse of a position of trust was an appropriate aggravating factor for indecent liberties under former RCW 9A.44.100(1)(b). Fisher, 108 Wn.2d at 427. Division Two of the Court of Appeals has also accepted abuse of a position of trust as an aggravating factor for an indecent liberties conviction under former RCW 9A.44.100(1)(b). State v. Brown, 55 Wn. App. 738, 754, 780 P.2d 880 (1989), review denied, 114 Wn.2d 1014 (1990); Harp, 43 Wn. App. at 343. Therefore, although none of the parties discuss these cases, the issue has largely been settled. By drafting alternative forms of the same crime, the Legislature manifested its belief a particular crime could be achieved by distinct combinations of elements. Where a single criminal act includes all of the elements of one form of the crime as well as additional discrete elements from an alternative form, the crime exceeds that contemplated  by the Legislature. In drafting former RCW 9A.44.100(1), the Legislature viewed a position of authority as a necessary element only where the victim is between the ages of 14 and 16. Where a position of trust is abused when a child is under 14, a crime exceeding the Legislature's contemplation has been committed meriting an exceptional sentence. We reverse the Court of Appeals on this issue.