W.Va. Extortion Law Could Soon Expand To Better Address Sexual Coercion

Advocates for survivors of sexual violence in West Virginia say current state extortion laws do not address forms of sexual extortion explicitly enough. But a bill passing through the West Virginia Legislature could soon change that.

Senate Bill 240, proposed by Del. Bill Hamilton, R-Upshur, would clarify that forms of sexual extortion fall under similar criminal penalties as crimes of financial extortion.

That opens the door to extortion charges when someone threatens to share intimate photos of a partner, or when a superior in the workplace says their employee’s job security could be at risk if they do not engage in sexual acts, according to the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services (WVFRIS).

WVFRIS, a statewide sexual assault prevention coalition, is advocating for the passage of Senate Bill 240 this year, saying it would catch the West Virginia Code up to contemporary forms of sexual extortion that occur on and offline.

Katie Spriggs is executive director of the Eastern Panhandle Empowerment Center, one of 12 rape crisis centers across the state that provides emergency and long-term support to survivors of interpersonal, domestic or sexual violence.

“That’s everything from immediate hospital response following sexual assault to safety planning and followup,” she said. Plus, from “crisis case management to shelter to transportation services.”

Spriggs visited the State Capitol for Sexual Violence Awareness Day Thursday, an annual campaign from advocacy groups across the state that informs lawmakers and the public about the needs of survivors statewide. She described the bill as an improvement to laws already in place.

“It enhances the current crime of extortion to include when people are extorting things of value with sexual contact,” she said. “So, for example, somebody in a position of power extorting someone in a sexual nature, holding something of value over them, to get them to do it.”

The bill would also add specific clauses to heighten penalties for sexual extortion against a minor, and for extortion that causes the injury or death of another person, including suicide. These offenses would carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

The bill would add threatening the “disclosure of intimate pictures” or photographs to the definition of extortion, which advocates say would bring current law up to speed with forms of extortion that have developed in the digital age.

Meanwhile, Spriggs said crisis centers across the state hope the West Virginia Legislature will continue to provide $2 million annually for sexual violence response efforts in the state budget, and continue to provide supplemental funding to offset cuts to federal funding for these programs.

Senate Bill 240 passed the West Virginia Senate on Feb. 24, and currently awaits review from the Judiciary Commitee of the West Virginia House of Delegates.