CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Married people in West Virginia could be charged with certain acts of sexual abuse against their spouses for the first time under a bill passed by the state Senate. The bill pushed by former prosecuting attorney Republican Sen. Ryan Weld would remove marriage as a defense to first- and third-degree sexual assault. There are two crimes of sexual violence outlined in West Virginia code. One is penetrative assault and the other is the forcible touching of a person’s sexual organs, breasts, and some other areas by another person. For the latter offense, there exists a martial exemption that shields a person from conviction if the crime is perpetrated against their spouse.
Yeah, I was thinking it was one of those laws that mentioned things like “you can beat her with a stick no wider than your thumb” from 1820 but nope, they just straight up had a law allowing penetrative rape.
Maybe I’m reading it wrong, but the article says the latter offense has the exemption, not the former offense. The latter being touching, not penetrating.