Rhode Island General Laws 5-63.1-3. Immunity from liability
Any person or institution participating in good faith in the making of a report under this chapter shall be immune from any civil or criminal liability that results by reason of any action taken. For the purpose of any civil or criminal action or proceeding, any person reporting under this section shall be presumed to be acting in good faith. The immunity provided under this section shall not apply to liability resulting from sexual contact by a mental health professional with a patient or former patient. In any civil action against a sexual contact reporter or victim arising out of a report, if the plaintiff does not prevail in the action, the court may award the reasonable costs and attorney’s fees incurred by the defendant in defending the action.
History of Section.
P.L. 1994, ch. 355, § 1.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 5-63.1-3
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Former patient: is a person who obtained a professional consultation or diagnostic or therapeutic service from a mental-health professional within two (2) years prior to sexual contact with the mental-health professional. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-63.1-1
- Patient: is a person who obtains a professional consultation or diagnostic or therapeutic service from a mental health professional. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-63.1-1
- person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
- Sexual contact: means any of the following, whether or not occurring with the consent of a patient or former patient:
(A) Sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any intrusion, however slight, into the genital or anal openings of the patient's or former patient's body by any part of the mental health professional's body or any object used by the mental health professional for that purpose, or any intrusion, however slight, into the genital or anal openings of the mental health professional's body by any part of the patient's or former patient's body or by any object used by the patient or former patient for that purpose, if consented to by the mental health professional;
(B) Sustained kissing of the mouth or kissing or intentional touching by the mental health professional of the patient's or former patient's genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttocks, or breast or the clothing covering any of these body parts; or sustained kissing of the mouth or kissing or intentional touching by the patient or former patient of the mental health professional's genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttocks, or breast or the clothing covering any of these body parts if the mental health professional consents to the kissing or intentional touching;
(C) Exhibition by the mental health professional in view of the patient or former patient of the mental health professional's genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttocks, or breast; voyeurism by the mental health professional in the form of viewing the patient's or former patient's genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttocks, or breast;
(D) Using the influence inherent in the mental health professional-patient or mental health professional-former patient relationship to induce the patient or former patient to engage in sexual contact with a third party. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-63.1-1