Proving a Minor’s Sexual Purpose for Sexual Assault Crimes

A recent Court of Appeals opinion turned on a point of law that sometimes trips up folks in sexual assault cases: When a juvenile is alleged to have committed a sexual assault requiring proof of a sexual purpose, the State has to prove more than the act itself. Some crimes require a sexual purpose. For example, one version of Indecent Liberties requires that the perpetrator act “for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire.” See Jessica Smith, North Carolina Crimes: A Guidebook on the Elements of Crime 246 (7th ed. 2012). Likewise, Sexual Battery requires that the perpetrator act “for the purpose of sexual arousal, sexual gratification, or sexual abuse.” Id. at 254. In prosecutions involving adult defendants, the element of sexual purpose may be inferred from the very act itself. However, as the Court of Appeals held in the recent case, In re S.A.A., ___ N.C. App. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (Dec. 20, 2016), that rule doesn’t apply with respect to juveniles. S.A.A. was a juvenile delinquency case involving a thirteen-year-old alleged to have committed sexual battery against two eleven-year-old female schoolmates. The sexual battery allegedly occurred when the juvenile draped his arms around the girls’ shoulders so that he could smear a green glowing liquid on them during Halloween trick-or-treating. The juvenile and some of his friends were out on Halloween evening. The juvenile’s costume involved a black body suit, LED light teeth, and “glow gloves.” After one of his gloves broke, the juvenile began wiping glowing green [...]