Criminal Homicide
- Murder / Non-Negligent Manslaughter: The willful (non-negligent) killing of a human being by another.
- Manslaughter by Negligence: the killing of another person through gross negligence. Gross negligence is the intentional failure to perform a manifest duty in reckless disregard of the consequences as affecting the life or property of another
Sex Offenses
Any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent.
- Rape: The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.
- The ability to give consent is determined in accordance with state statue. In North Carolina a sexual offense is defined as occurring if a person engages in a sexual act with another person by force or against the will of the other person, or with a victim who is mentally defective, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless, and the person performing the act know or should reasonably know that the other person is mentally defective, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless. (NC § 14-27.27)
- Fondling (assault with sexual motives): The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her age or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
- Incest: Non-forcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law. In North Carolina this is defined as between grandparent or grandchild, parent, stepchild or legally adopted child, brother or sister (half or whole),or uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece (§ 14-178).
- Statutory Rape: Non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent. In North Carolina, the age of consent is 16. Sexual intercourse with someone who is under the age of consent is only illegal if the defendant is: (1) at least 4 years older than the victim and (2) at least 12 years of age (§ 14-27.25).
Robbery
The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.
Aggravated Assault
An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault usually is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. (It is not necessary that injury result from an aggravated assault when a gun, knife or other weapon is used which could or probably would result in a serious potential injury if the crime were successfully completed.)
Burglary
The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft. For reporting purposes this definition includes: unlawful entry with intent to commit a larceny or a felony; breaking and entering with intent to commit a larceny; housebreaking; safecracking; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.
Motor Vehicle Theft
The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle. (Classify as motor vehicle theft all cases where automobiles are taken by persons not having lawful access, even though the vehicles are later abandoned – including joy riding).
Arson
Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling, house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was an amendment to the Clery Act put into place in 2013. It expands the rights afforded to campus survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking.
Dating Violence
Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim; The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the reporting party’s statement and with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship. For the purpose of this definition:
- Dating violence does not include acts covered under the definition of domestic violence.
- Dating violence includes, but is not limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse
Domestic Violence
A felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed:
- By a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim;
- By a person with whom the victim shares a child in common;
- By a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner;
- By a person similarly situated to a spouse or the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred, or
- By any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws or the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred.
Sexual Assault
Sexual Assault is an offense that meets the definition of rape, fondling, incest, or statutory rape as used in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. Per the National Incident-Based Reporting System User Manual from the FBI UCR Program, a sex offense is “any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent.” Refer to the definitions above for rape, fondling, incest, and statutory rape.
Stalking
Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to:
- Fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or
- Suffer substantial emotional distress.
- Course of conduct means two or more acts, including, but not limited to, acts in which the stalker directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person, or interferes with a person’s property.
- Substantial emotional distress means significant mental suffering or anguish that may, but does not necessarily, require medical or other professional treatment or counseling.
- Reasonable person means a reasonable person under similar circumstances and with similar identities to the victim.