Is this as illegal as it sounds?
May 11, 2010 10:12 PM Subscribe
News.com.au today had an article about a site in Britain selling pubic lice for... revenge purposes. How is purposefully giving someone crabs not breaking the law?
They claim they're "for novelty purposes only" but I'm wondering what sort of criminal or civil action you have to be opening yourself up to by purposefully infecting people with a parasite.
I'm imagining in most US states at least, it's going to land somewhere in the "assault" department, but to my knowledge, it's not against the law to give someone crabs... the normal way... Is it only with malice aforethought that there would be a crime committed? I know, for instance, that it's against the law in most (all?) states to put someone at risk for HIV knowingly and purposefully. What about something like this?
They claim they're "for novelty purposes only" but I'm wondering what sort of criminal or civil action you have to be opening yourself up to by purposefully infecting people with a parasite.
I'm imagining in most US states at least, it's going to land somewhere in the "assault" department, but to my knowledge, it's not against the law to give someone crabs... the normal way... Is it only with malice aforethought that there would be a crime committed? I know, for instance, that it's against the law in most (all?) states to put someone at risk for HIV knowingly and purposefully. What about something like this?
There used to be something in the UK called a "vermin register" and releasing any creature on that register was illegal, but I don't think such a register is maintained any more.
Claiming someone released an insect such as lice or crabs would be awfully embarrassing thing to do for most people, and extremely hard to prove due to their size ("look, your honour, you can see him scraping the petri dish right here on my iPhone!") So even if there were specific laws it seems unlikely they'd see much court time.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 10:22 PM on May 11, 2010
Claiming someone released an insect such as lice or crabs would be awfully embarrassing thing to do for most people, and extremely hard to prove due to their size ("look, your honour, you can see him scraping the petri dish right here on my iPhone!") So even if there were specific laws it seems unlikely they'd see much court time.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 10:22 PM on May 11, 2010
In the US, I would expect that a lot of state laws covering the distribution of hazardous or biological materials (e.g. urinating in the coffee machine) would cover this. I'm sure some don't.
posted by dhartung at 10:24 PM on May 11, 2010
posted by dhartung at 10:24 PM on May 11, 2010
I took a quick look at that site, and I think it's a joke. (Don't mature lice, not larva or eggs, have a short life span, and need warmth and constant feeding to survive anyway?)
Never the less, if someone did intentionally infest, and it could be proven that would be assault (and battery too). Proving it would be hard though. The site implied that the wounds wouldn't be serve enough to be illegal, but they would be sufficient I think.
For what it's worth, I was told by a history professor once (umm - during a lecture; we weren't close enough to discuss STDs in private.) that King James (The one they named the bible after) called crabs the royal disease, and thought only kings should be allowed to get it, because it felt so good to scratch. (Gotta like the Stuarts, huh?)
posted by Some1 at 10:34 PM on May 11, 2010
Never the less, if someone did intentionally infest, and it could be proven that would be assault (and battery too). Proving it would be hard though. The site implied that the wounds wouldn't be serve enough to be illegal, but they would be sufficient I think.
For what it's worth, I was told by a history professor once (umm - during a lecture; we weren't close enough to discuss STDs in private.) that King James (The one they named the bible after) called crabs the royal disease, and thought only kings should be allowed to get it, because it felt so good to scratch. (Gotta like the Stuarts, huh?)
posted by Some1 at 10:34 PM on May 11, 2010
On MeFi, I quoted a few statutes from Arizona (just for one example) that seem to indicate that using pubic lice to attack someone would indeed be grounds for criminal charges--both for purchaser and for seller.
I think it would be very possible for the attacker to be charged with sexual abuse and assault, and for the seller of the lice to be criminally responsible for facilitating the attacks.
posted by holterbarbour at 10:52 PM on May 11, 2010
I think it would be very possible for the attacker to be charged with sexual abuse and assault, and for the seller of the lice to be criminally responsible for facilitating the attacks.
posted by holterbarbour at 10:52 PM on May 11, 2010
Apart from having it or selling it, sending it through the mail would probably be grounds for a bunch of other charges. I think it's a hoax.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 12:28 AM on May 12, 2010
posted by aeschenkarnos at 12:28 AM on May 12, 2010
Depends on the state; unless the different state legislatures thought to put make a law criminalizing it, then it's not illegal. While wrong and disgusting, lice would not cause grievous bodily harm, making it a hard case to prove.
posted by Neekee at 7:48 AM on May 12, 2010
posted by Neekee at 7:48 AM on May 12, 2010
unless the different state legislatures thought to put make a law criminalizing it, then it's not illegal.
They don't have to have thought of the particular act of deliberately infecting someone with crabs; as long as the actions fit the definition of the more general crime of assault/battery, or maybe sexual battery, it's illegal. Criminal statutes don't generally come with an exhaustive list of ways to commit the crime.
posted by palliser at 2:08 PM on May 12, 2010
They don't have to have thought of the particular act of deliberately infecting someone with crabs; as long as the actions fit the definition of the more general crime of assault/battery, or maybe sexual battery, it's illegal. Criminal statutes don't generally come with an exhaustive list of ways to commit the crime.
posted by palliser at 2:08 PM on May 12, 2010
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posted by pompomtom at 10:19 PM on May 11, 2010