Also known as: indecent liberty · taking indecent liberties · indecent acts · lewd conduct
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Criminal conduct consisting of improper sexual behavior directed toward a child. Courts treat the offense as a sexually violent predicate that can support civil commitment or enhanced penalties when the actor has a history of such acts.
Officers entered a boarded-up townhouse owned by Capital Row Investments LLC and found thirty guests drinking and engaging in drug use on the bare floor. The officers arrested several attendees for unlawful entry after noting the vacant condition and the unauthorized gathering, which supplied probable cause under the totality of the circumstances.
Leroy Hendricks had been convicted five times of taking indecent liberties with children between 1955 and 1994. As his prison term ended, the state petitioned to commit him as a sexually violent predator. The court relied on his documented pattern of indecent liberties offenses to find the requisite mental abnormality.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A high-school student was convicted of taking indecent liberties after graphic sexual contact with a minor at a school event. School officials reported the conduct and the court upheld the resulting juvenile adjudication as consistent with the state's interest in protecting children from sexual predation.
A registered offender who had been convicted of indecent liberties with a child challenged a state law barring him from social-media sites. The statute was struck down because it broadly restricted access to protected speech without sufficient tailoring to the risk posed by his prior indecent-liberties conviction.
A registered sex offender previously convicted of indecent liberties with a child sold explicit images involving minors. The department terminated his employment and the court sustained the action because the conduct demonstrated continued sexual interest in children.
A three-year-old described sexual touching by her uncle in statements to a doctor. The state offered the statements to prove the uncle had taken indecent liberties. The court required particularized guarantees of trustworthiness before admitting the hearsay because the child did not testify.
The offense requires improper sexual behavior directed at a child, such as touching or exposing oneself in a sexual manner. Courts examine the actor's intent and the child's age to determine whether the conduct crosses the line from ordinary contact into criminal indecency.
Yes. When the conviction demonstrates a mental abnormality that makes the person likely to commit future sexually violent offenses, the state may pursue indefinite civil commitment after the criminal sentence ends.
No. The offense is complete upon any improper sexual act or advance toward a child. Neither penetration nor physical force is an element.
…In 1984, he was convicted of indecent liberties with a 13-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl. In 1994, he was convicted of taking indecent liberties with two 13-year-old boys. As Hendricks neared the end of his prison term in 1994, the State filed a petition in state court seeking to have him committed under the Act. Hendricks…