Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 9. Source pages: 4, 5.
Sent to Committee on Criminal Justice April 8
HB 226 that will create a new crime of prohibited sexual contact between a psychotherapist and a client or patient, was referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice on April 8. The calendars for debate for this committee do not list HB 226 at this time.
The proposed law prohibits any psychotherapist or any one posing as a psychotherapist, from having sexual contact with a client or patient.
The prohibition includes a former client or former patient, “when the relationship was terminated for the purpose of engaging in the sexual contact.”
The bill defines psychotherapist as psychiatrist, psychologist, medical psychologist, licensed social worker, mental health counselor, or “Any other person who provides or purports to provide treatment, diagnosis, assessment, evaluation, or counseling of any mental, emotional, behavior, or addictive illnesses, disorders, symptoms, or conditions.”
HB 226 creates punishment of imprisonment of not more than ten years, fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or both.
The bill specifies that consent of the patient or client shall not be a defense.
The bill also indicates that it will not be a violation “… if the sexual contact between the psychotherapist and the former patient or former client occurs more than one year after the termination of the relationship and the psychotherapist has referred the former patient or former client to an independent and objective psychotherapist, recommended by a third-party psychotherapist, for treatment.”
In the documents contained with the legislative process, the Legislative Fiscal Office notes indicate the following.
“The exact fiscal impact of the passage of this legislation is indeterminable, since the legislation creates a new crime and it is not known how many individuals will be convicted of the crime. […] However, any offender sentenced to the custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections increases expenditures by $24.39 per day per offender in local facilities.”
Also, the office notes, “To the extent that offenders are sentenced and housed in state facilities, the cost per day per offender is $47.74. Therefore, for any offender convicted of this crime, it would cost the state $17,425 annually (1 offender x $47.74 per day x 365 days).”
The Times asked Cindy Nardini, Legislative Chair for the Louisiana Counseling Association about the bill. She said that while completely opposed to any type of sexual contact between psychotherapists and their clients, she was concerned about creating a new crime, and explained that this issue is covered in the regulations and ethics codes of all the boards.
Dr. Alicia Pellegrin, Legislative Chair for the Louisiana Psychological Association, explained that while LPA was supportive of the bill, one concern with the bill was that language prohibiting certain types of contact with certain body areas, could potentially impact those psychologists who treat sex offenders.
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