Court Opinion

ID: 9641749
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:39:43.801244+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:39.566448
License: Public Domain

*330Shea, J.
(dissenting). I disagree. General Statutes § 53a-71 (a) (3) is derived from § 213.3 (b) of the Model Penal Code of the American Law Institute which makes it a crime to engage in sexual intercourse “if . . . (b) the other person is less than 21 years old and the actor is his guardian or otherwise is responsible for general supervision of his welfare.” American Law Institute Model Penal Code § 213.3 (b); see Connecticut General Statutes Annotated § 53a-70 (a) (1) (West 1972) (1971 Commentary by the Commission to Revise the Criminal Statutes).1 Section 53a-71 (a) (3), though limiting its protection to persons less than eighteen years old, uses virtually the same language in describing the prohibited relationship: “the actor is such person’s guardian or otherwise responsible for the general supervision of such person’s welfare.” The official comment2 of the institute upon this section indicates that it “reaches one kind of illegitimate use of authority to gain sexual gratification.” The relationship of a stepfather to a stepdaughter is *331cited as “a frequent instance of sexual imposition within the family unit” to which the section was intended to apply. “Probation officers, camp supervisors and the like” are mentioned as “others who have responsibility for general supervision of a child’s welfare.”
It is apparent that the majority have given a much narrower reading to § 53a-71 (a) (3) than its origin would warrant by insisting upon evidence “that the complainant’s mother had intended to relinquish responsibility for the supervision of her welfare to the defendant.” Such a requirement would wholly frustrate the application of the statute to stepfathers, its principal raison d’etre, as well as to other persons acting in capacities where they have been entrusted with a responsibility for the supervision of children which is neither exclusive nor permanent. The draftsmen of the statute have indicated that it “is aimed at situations in which there is consent but the actor is in a supervisory or custodial position vis-a-vis the victim.” Connecticut General Statutes Annotated § 53a-70 (West 1972) (1971 Commentary by the Commission to Revise the Criminal Statutes).
*332Since the purpose of the legislation is to punish one who abuses his authority to the detriment of a child subject to that authority, our major focus should be, not upon the mechanics of the transfer of supervision of the child from the mother of the victim to the defendant, but upon the relationship between the child and the defendant. The evidence clearly established that the victim regarded the defendant as her father, whether or not her belief was correct. His frequent visits and the attention he had shown her over the years confirmed this impression on her part. With her mother’s knowledge and approval she had been living at his home for about one and one-half months before the incident where, in every practical sense, she had been subject to his care and general supervision. She did not receive the message from her mother to return home which is mentioned by the majority until after the offense charged had occurred. That the victim regarded the defendant as standing in loco parentis and felt obligated to obey him, and that he was fully aware of the authority entrusted to him over her are findings which the jury could reasonably have made from the testimony presented. Such a view of the evidence would justify their verdict of guilty in accordance with the provisions of § 53a-71 (a) (3).
I also find no error in the comment of the trial court which the defendant relies upon in claiming error in the refusal to grant his motion for a mistrial. The majority have found it unnecessary to address this claim because its disposition would not affect the outcome they have reached. When the defendant failed to produce two witnesses whom he had said on the previous day he would present, the court, in explaining why it was unprepared to *333deliver the charge, remarked that “the fact that the evidence is concluded as early as it did, came as somewhat of a surprise to the court.” The claim of the defendant that this statement was a comment upon his failure to testify in violation of the principles of Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, 614, 85 S. Ct. 1229, 14 L. Ed. 2d 106, reh. denied, 381 U.S. 957, 85 S. Ct. 1797, 14 L. Ed. 2d 730 (1965), or was otherwise prejudicial is too frivolous for serious discussion.
I find no error.

 Section 53a-70 (a) (1) was the predecessor to § 53a-71 (a) (3) and the language of the provision was retained by the 1975 amendment of the entire section. See Public Acts 1975, No. 75-619, § 4.

 American Law Institute Model Penal Code and Commentaries, Part II, § 213.3, comment 3 is as follows:
“3. Intercourse with a Ward. Paragraph (b) of Subsection (1) reaches one kind of illegitimate use of authority to gain sexual gratification. Specifically, it covers intercourse with a person less than 21 years old by his guardian or someone else responsible for general supervision of his welfare. Of course, intercourse with a natural or adopted child constitutes incest under Section 230.2 of the Model Code. Belations with a stepchild are excluded from the incest provision because it was thought inappropriate to enforce a permanent bar on marriage between steprelations. Where, for example, surviving parents remarry late in life, marriage between stepbrother and stepsister may do no real violence to the institution of the family. Similarly, the young man who marries a young stepmother after the death of his aged father may be guilty of nothing more than bad taste. Yet intercourse between father and stepdaughter is a frequent instance of sexual imposition within the *331family unit. Perhaps the principal function of Section 213.3(1) (b) is to repress such relations where the child is less than 21 years old and where the stepfather has been appointed guardian or stands in looo parentis. This provision punishes such conduct for what it is — not incest, but aggravated illicit intercourse achieved by misuse of a position of authority and control. Of course, Paragraph (b) also applies to others who have responsibility for general supervision of a child’s welfare. Such persons would include probation officers, camp supervisors, and the like. The tentative draft of this offense reached anyone responsible for “care, treatment, protection, or education,” a formulation that was deemed too broad in its impact. Doctor-patient and teacher-student relationships, for example, would have been included within the previous formulation, and while one can imagine situations where such cases should be included, it seemed inappropriate to provide for general coverage.” (Footnotes omitted.)