Informed Consent Law and Sexual Battery In Viral Prank Video

Consent often remains unseen, yet it plays an integral role in our lives. It influences our doctor’s visits, legal counseling, and the public school system. While its definition can vary by situation, consent primarily aims to protect individuals from mistreatment, abuse, or disrespect. Breaches of consent also vary, with some being small interpersonal faux pas and others constituting assault and HIPAA lawsuits. Informed consent is a type of consent that has even more specifications. In the worst cases, informed consent law breaches can lead to sexual battery or sexual assault charges. 

Video of Purported Sexual Battery

In yet another inflammatory YouTube video concept, an influencer filmed himself approaching a horse-mounted police officer. As the horse walked past the YouTuber, he asked, “Can I pet?” The officer agreed, slowing the horse to stop next to the man. 

Surprisingly, instead of petting the horse, the Youtuber began to rub the police officer’s upper thigh. Stunned, the officer took a moment to think, clearly shocked by the situation. The officer then says, “You know that could be sexual battery?”. The man claims that he had consent from the officer because he asked if he could pet, but the officer clearly didn’t understand what he meant by the request. 

While this video is likely a simple prank that likely didn’t cause any lasting harm, it does open up the question of how informed consent law plays a role in sexual battery and other assault cases. 

What Is Informed Consent? 

Informed consent is a specific type commonly found in the health and legal fields. It adds stipulations to the traditional definition by requiring that the consenting party is fully informed about the relevant factors surrounding the situation. This includes understanding the risks associated with the decision and any other critical information they need to know.

Informed consent is a legal and ethical obligation strictly enforced across many industries. Medical consent must always be informed. For example, a patient considering life-altering surgery needs to understand the procedure’s details, risks, and alternatives to make an informed decision.

The specifics of informed consent vary depending on the institution involved, but the basic concept remains consistent across contexts.

There are a few exceptions to informed consent, most of which involve emergencies when someone would otherwise be unable to decide for themselves. For instance, an unresponsive patient taken into the ER will likely receive treatment even though they cannot explicitly consent to said treatment. Other exceptions may be one-party consent states, in which consent isn’t required for the filming of some conversations and situations.

For record-keeping, many formal situations involving informed consent require written approval from the agreeing party. This ensures a tangible document detailing how the person was informed and whether they gave consent.

Consent and Sexual Battery

Sexual battery has a few different definitions depending on what jurisdiction you are in. In most locations, sexual battery is a non-consensual sexual touch. Other places require the presence of forced rape to label an incident as sexual battery. In those states, groping or unwanted touching falls under slightly less serious sex crime categories.

Sexual battery by definition has to be non-consensual. Interestingly enough, most jurisdictions agree that sexual threats do not constitute battery. Instead, they fall under the umbrella of sexual assault charges. Depending on the type of touch involved, authorities can increase both sexual assault and sexual battery charges to “aggravated” charges. Aggravated charges lead to more severe punishments.

Some situations may involve consent that isn’t genuinely agreed upon. For instance, coerced or forced consent, consent from an incapacitated party, or consent obtained through deceit is improper. In these cases, consent—especially informed consent—does not truly exist, meaning someone wouldn’t uphold it in a court of law.

Sexual battery is an incredibly serious charge, warranting the label of “felony” or “serious felony”. Punishments for sexual battery include prison time of up to multiple years, registration as a sex offender, and increased “aggravated” charges. Likewise, victims of sexual battery can also file personal suits against their attackers.  

Did The Man In The Video Commit Sexual Battery? 

Thinking back to the video above, we can now dissect whether the man is guilty of sexual battery against the police officer. Upon first glance, it does appear as though the man received proper consent from the officer. This would mean that he would not be guilty, as consensual sexual behavior and personal contact are fully legal. 

Consent isn’t a simple one-time agreement. Both parties must be informed of this and agree upon it. With the man’s question, “Can I pet?” in mind, it is clear that the officer misunderstood him. Most reasonable people would hear that question and assume that the man was talking about the horse. 

The officer would not have had informed consent, as he was not privy to the relevant details to what the man wanted to do. Technically, this means that the man could face charges of sexual battery, though it is doubtful that the officer will proceed with that.

Although this situation was a social media stunt designed to attract attention, it raises important questions about the role of consent in sexual assault and sexual battery. So, next time someone asks you the question, “Can I pet?” you may want to clarify exactly what they mean before you agree!