Assaulting A Sports Official Would Lead To Upgraded Charges Under Bill Passed By Assembly

By Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor

January 29, 2023

People charged with assaulting youth sports officials could see aggravated assault charges under legislation approved by the state Assembly Thursday.

The legislation, which comprises two combined bills and was advanced unanimously, is a response to escalating assaults against sports referees, umpires, and coaches.

Under the measure, assault against a sports official, a player, or other participants would be a crime in the third degree if the person is harmed. The charge comes with a fine of $15,000, a three- to a five-year jail sentence, or both. Assaults that don’t lead to bodily injury would be a fourth-degree crime, with the punishment being a prison sentence of up to 18 months, a fine of $10,000, or both.

An identical Senate bill has been introduced but has yet to have a hearing in the chamber’s Judiciary Committee.

The measure was one of dozens of bills passed in Trenton Thursday, with several focused on establishing new crimes or upgrading punishments for existing crimes.

Fertility fraud would be a crime under another measure advanced by lawmakers. Health practitioners using their own sperm or someone else’s without consent during in-vitro fertilization or another fertility method would be guilty of a crime in the third degree.

It’s an offense in the spotlight due to DNA testing kits and a rise in in-vitro pregnancies.

In 2021, a 37-year-old New Jersey woman got results from DNA testing kit 23AndMe that revealed her father was the gynecologist who conducted the artificial insemination. The mother, now 75, called it medical rape. And in Indiana, a once well-respected fertility doctor in the 1970s and ’80s was found to be inseminating patients with his own sperm without their knowledge, leading to over 94 biological children.

The bill would allow for prosecution up to 20 years after the treatment was conducted or within 10 years of the victim becoming aware of the crime. The health practitioner would face permanent license revocation and registration as a sex offender if found guilty.

It passed the Assembly unanimously but does not have a Senate companion.

And a bill establishing the crime of “sextortion” is quickly making its way through the Legislature. Under the bill, using sexual images — whether stolen through hacking or sent under coercion — to extort victims into sending money or more photos would be a third-degree crime.

Federal officials are sounding the alarm on sexual extortion, which is on the rise, especially among teenage boys. But there’s also a gap in state and federal laws — just 17 states ban sexual extortion.

Introduced earlier this month, the legislation passed unanimously and now heads to the state Senate.

While Thursday’s session was largely mundane with little debate, the fiery moment of the day came when the chamber voted on a resolution to name Nov. 22 as Kimchi Day annually, a measure sponsored by Assemblywoman Ellen Park (D-Bergen), the first Korean American to serve in the Legislature.

Park said the bill honors over 4,000 years of tradition in Korean culture, and noted several other states, like New York and Virginia, have passed similar bills. By passing it, the Legislature recognizes the significance of kimchi to Korean Americans in New Jersey, she said.

Assemblyman Brian Bergen (R-Morris) rose to urge his colleagues to vote no because it’s a “complete, colossal waste of this body’s time.” He vowed to vote no on any day named after food.

The measure passed overwhelmingly — Bergen voted no, and a handful of Republicans abstained — leaving Assembly members applauding and laughing.

Other bills approved Thursday include measures that would:

• Allow marriage and civil union ceremonies to be performed online.
• Create a certification card for people diagnosed with autism, which would be issued by the state and include an emergency contact to call in stressful or difficult situations.
• Prohibit the sale of some diet pills and supplements to minors.
• Require the Attorney General’s Office to better identify how people in underserved communities are vulnerable to human trafficking.
• Allow unemployment claimants to continue collecting benefits during certain labor disputes.

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