ASSEMBLY JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 1297

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE 12, 1997

      The Assembly Judiciary Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 1297 (1R).

      Presently, N.J.S.2C:34-5 provides that it is a petty disorderly persons offense if a person commits an act of sexual penetration knowing that he or she is infected with a venereal disease. A petty disorderly persons offense is punishable by up to thirty days imprisonment, a fine up to $500.00, or both. This bill would increase the penalty for this offense to a crime of the fourth degree. A crime of the fourth degree is punishable by up to 18 months imprisonment, a fine of up to $7,500.00, or both. The bill also provides that the act of sexual penetration is committed without the informed consent of the other person.

      The bill would classify an act of sexual penetration by a person who knows he is infected by AIDS without the informed consent of the other person as a crime of the third degree. Crimes of the third degree are punishable by between 3 and 5 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $7,500.00 or both.

      In response to a point raised that the bill possibly applied only to men, the committee discussed that "sexual penetration" is defined in N.J.S. 2C:14-1 and is applicable to both males and females.

      This bill is identical to Assembly Bill No. 2084 (1R).