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17 Am. J.L. & Med. 289 (1991)
Sexual Abuse by Psychotherapists: The Call for a Uniform Criminal Statute

handle is hein.journals/amlmed17 and id is 297 raw text is: Sexual Abuse by Psychotherapists: The Call for a Uniform Criminal Statute* Recent surveys show an alarming rate of sexual exploitation of patients by psychotherapists. As such conduct often falls outside the scope of rape, which allows a defense of consent, the psychotherapist is not prosecuted. Although all sexual contact between therapist and patient is prohibited by codes of professional ethics, the licensing boards that enforce these codes do not possess adequate power to deter this behavior. Further, professional re- view boards have absolutely no authority over unlicensed therapists who sexually abuse their patients. As a result, licensed therapists who have been censured in one state may practice as unlicensed therapists in another state and continue to sexually abuse patients. The only effective deterrent would be a uniform statute, adopted in all states, criminalizing this specific abuse of the unique therapist-patient rela- tionship. Such a statute should include unlicensed therapists as potential offenders and consent to sexual contact should not be a defense. The statute also should provide for enhanced efforts to inform and protect victims. This Note first examines six of the nine criminal statutes that currently exist in order to show the full range of provisions presently in force to deter this conduct. This Note then proposes model provisions for a uniform statute. I. INTRODUCTION A 1990 Boston Globe article reports that between seven and fifteen percent of psychotherapists report, in confidential surveys, that they sexually abuse their patients.' Other national surveys conclude that nine to twelve percent of psychologists and psychiatrists engage in sex- ual relations with their patients.2 Further, malpractice insurers report * Much of the text of this Note deals with the problem of male therapist/female patient sexual contact. This is not to say that sexual abuse of male patients or sexual abuse by female therapists is not also a problem. Rather, the majority of cases involve male therapist/female patient abuse. All pronouns which indicate one gender should be read to include the other gender as well. Further, the terms sexual abuse and sexual exploitation are used interchangeably, and should be read to indicate any sexual contact unless otherwise indicated. Sexual contact includes all touching of body parts within the so-called bikini rule (including breasts, vagina, thighs, buttocks and penis). I Bass, Panel OK's Therapist Regulation, Boston Globe, Jan. 24, 1990, at 1, col. 3. 2 Brodsky, Sex Between Patient and Therapist: Psychology's Data and Response, in SEXUAL Ex- PLOITATION IN PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS 17-20 (G. Gabbard ed. 1989); Gartrell, Prevalence of Psychiatrist-Patient Sexual Contact, in SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IN PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS, supra, at 7; Goode, The Ultimate Betrayal: When Sex Enters the Equation, Psychotherapy is Over, U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, Mar. 12, 1990, at 64; Siegel, Laws That Help When Therapists Do Harm: Attorneys Are Discovering How to Fight for the Rights of Counseling-Abuse Victims, STUDENT

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