Criminal Justice

Bill S 3831 amends the state's penal law regarding the crime of persistent sexual abuse. Currently, a person can be charged with persistent sexual abuse if they commit certain sexual abuse offenses and have two or more prior convictions for similar crimes within a ten-year period, excluding time incarcerated. This bill removes that ten-year time limit for prior convictions. As a result, any qualifying past convictions, regardless of when they occurred, would count towards a charge of persistent sexual abuse, affecting how individuals with multiple past sexual abuse convictions are prosecuted for subsequent offenses.