West Virginia Senate passes bill that would remove marital exemption for sexual abuse

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Married people in West Virginia could be charged for certain sexual assaults against their spouses for the first time under a bill passed Monday by the Republican-dominated West Virginia Senate.

The bill, authored by former prosecutor Brooke County Republican Sen. Ryan Weld, would eliminate marriage as a defense to first- and third-degree sexual assault. It will now go to the House of Representatives for consideration.

“The marriage exception exists or has existed in code for quite some time,” Weld said on the floor Monday. “And I think now is the time to right injustices.”

Weld explained that there are two crimes of sexual assault outlined in the West Virginia code: one is rape by penetration, and the other is the forcible touching of another person’s genitals, breasts, buttocks or anus. For the latter crime, there is a martial exemption that protects a person from conviction if the crime is committed against his/her spouse.

Even if the couple is legally separated, a person accused of this type of sexual abuse cannot be charged.

Until 1976, a married person could not be charged with sexually assaulting his or her spouse. That law was changed at the urging of former Republican Senator Judith Herndon, who was the only woman in the Legislature at the time.

Weld honored Herndon on the floor Monday before the bill passed 22-9, with three senators absent or not voting.

“This is a continuation of what I believe is an unfinished job that she was not able to complete before she sadly passed away in 1980,” Weld said of the bill.