Bill > SB203

This bill modifies various criminal statutes in Alabama, primarily focusing on expanding protections for victims and establishing new offenses. It broadens the scope of crimes like indecent exposure and other sex offenses to include additional victims, and it creates a new crime called "inpatient custodial sexual misconduct" to address sexual conduct between employees and patients in inpatient substance use disorder treatment programs or mental health facilities, making consent an irrelevant defense in such cases. The bill also revises definitions and penalties related to domestic violence offenses and clarifies that the involvement of undercover operatives or law enforcement officers in investigations is not a defense to prosecution. Furthermore, it updates the list of offenses considered "sex offenses" for registration and notification purposes, expands the age range for certain child victim protections in sex crimes, and modifies rules regarding the admissibility of out-of-court statements from child victims in court proceedings. Finally, it amends child abuse reporting requirements to include a broader range of professionals and entities and clarifies procedures for reporting and investigating suspected child abuse and neglect.