Fourth Circuit Finds VA Sexual Battery Statute Divisible

The Fourth Circuit has determined that Virginia’s sexual battery statute is divisible between non-consensual acts and acts committed against a person restrained by the criminal justice system. The portion of the statute criminalizing non-consensual acts constitutes a crime involving moral turpitude. The court additionally found that a Virginia conviction for solicitation of a minor under age 15 is a crime involving moral turpitude because the statute includes a requirement that the defendant has reason to believe he is soliciting someone under age 15.

The full text of Gomez-Ruotolo v. Garland can be found here:

https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/231238.P.pdf

Fifth Circuit Finds that Online Solicitation of a Minor is not an Aggravated Felony

The Fifth Circuit has determined that a Texas conviction for online solicitation of a minor is not categorically an aggravated felony in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Esquival Quintana.  "Given the structure of the Court’s reasoning regarding the age of consent and especially egregious crimes, Esquivel-Quintana’s generic definition of a minor as one under sixteen applies in the context of online solicitation of a minor."

The full text of Shroff v. Sessions can be found here:

http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/17/17-60042-CV0.pdf