PA Superior Court: Institutional Sexual Assault Statute Does Not Apply to Colleges

Philadelphia Criminal Defense Attorney Zak T. Goldstein, Esquire

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has decided the case of Commonwealth v. Yanovitsky, reversing the defendant’s conviction for institutional sexual assault after concluding that that statute does not apply to colleges and universities.

The Facts of the Case

The defendant was a professor at a large state university in Philadelphia. The complainant testified that after class, he dismissed all of the other students, leaving her alone with him in the classroom. He then touched her hair, kissed her forehead, and pressed his penis against her thigh. He also touched her feet and hands, and she said that she did not consent. Her roommate testified that the complainant immediately reported the incident to her and had expressed her concerns about some prior behavior by the same professor. DNA testing revealed the presence of the defendant’s DNA on the complainant’s clothing, but character witnesses testified to the defendant’s good reputation in the community.

The police arrested the defendant, and Philadelphia prosecutors charged him with institutional sexual assault and indecent assault. The jury convicted, and the defendant appealed.

The Superior Court Appeal

The Superior Court reversed the institutional sexual assault conviction and affirmed the indecent assault conviction. The Court therefore remanded the case for a new sentencing hearing.

On appeal, the defendant argued that institutional sexual assault, which is a new offense in Pennsylvania, does not apply to colleges and universities despite the extremely broad language of the statute.

The Superior Court agreed. The Court reversed the institutional sexual assault conviction of primarily because it found that the statute under which he was convicted did not apply to college or university settings.

First, the Court interpreted the statutory language of the institutional sexual assault statute (18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3124.2) and concluded that it was intended to protect students in elementary and secondary schools, not those in higher education institutions.

The statute defines “school” to include public or private schools, intermediate units, or area vocational-technical schools. The Court noted that these definitions typically refer to institutions providing education for children and adolescents, not adults in colleges or universities.

The Court looked at dictionary definitions and legal interpretations of the word “school.” Although Merriam-Webster’s definition included colleges and universities, Black’s Law Dictionary and other legal sources suggested that the term “school” in a statute usually refers to institutions for children unless the statute explicitly includes higher education institutions.

The Court also looked at the legislative history and context of the statute. It found that the statute was aimed at protecting younger students from employees and adults in schools. The Governor’s message accompanying amendments to the statute highlighted its focus on protecting children from sexual predators. Additionally, the absence of terms specifically referring to higher education (such as “professor,” “college,” or “university”) in the statute further supported the interpretation that the statute was not meant to cover colleges and universities.

The Court also found that applying the statute to colleges would lead to an absurd result. The Court considered the potential consequences of interpreting the statute to include higher education. It pointed out that if “school” included colleges and universities, any consensual sexual relationship between a college professor and an adult student would be criminalized, which the legislature likely did not intend, especially in cases where the adult student was not even a student of the professor.

Finally, the Superior Court noted that the Commonwealth agreed with the defendant’s argument that the statute did not apply to college or university settings and conceded that his conviction for institutional sexual assault should be vacated.

Therefore, the Court vacated the conviction and remanded for a new sentencing hearing. This case illustrates the fact that although the statute is broad, it does not apply to absolutely everyone in any kind of school setting. Instead, the statute only applies to certain types of schools and to certain employees and other adults in those settings who have “direct contact” as defined by the statute. It does not apply to all employees and all possible types of schools.

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