What is sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult?
Sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult is the infliction of non-consensual sexual contact of any kind on that person. However, in many situations, victims of sexual abuse are deemed by the State of Washington to be incapable of giving consent to sexual contact. Some examples of these situations are: • victims who are physically helpless or mentally incapacitated; • victims who are developmentally disabled where they are not married to the perpetrator and the perpetrator has supervisory authority over them; • and frail elder or vulnerable adults who are not married to the perpetrator but who do have a significant relationship with the perpetrator. In these cases, consent to the contact by the victim is not a defense.
