Clery Crime Definitions

General Crimes

  • Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter is the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another.
  • Manslaughter by Negligence is the killing of another person through gross negligence.  (Does not include traffic fatalities.)
  • Robbery is the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.
  • Aggravated Assault is 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.
  • Burglary is the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft.
  • Motor Vehicle Theft is the theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle.
  • Arson is 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.

Sex Offenses

  • 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.
  • Fondling: 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: Nonforcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other wherein marriage is prohibited by law.   (WI prohibits sexual intercourse between parties near than 2nd cousins, but allows 1st cousin sexual intercourse if the woman is over 55 years or if one party has a letter from a physician confirming sterility.)
  • Statutory Rape: Non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under statutory age of consent. (Age of consent for intercourse in WI is 18)
  • Consent: Under WI law, consent is words or overt actions by a person who is competent to give informed consent indicating a freely given agreement to have sexual intercourse or sexual contact. The following persons are presumed incapable of consent but the presumption may be rebutted by competent evidence:
    (1) A person suffering from mental illness or defect which impairs capacity to appraise   personal conduct.
    (2) A person who is unconscious or for any other reason physically unable to communicate an unwillingness to act.

Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking

  • Domestic Violence is a felony or misdemeanor 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 or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner; by a person similarly situated to a spouse of 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 of the jurisdiction in which the crime occurred.
    • Dating Violence is violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim. (Under WI law, dating violence is a form of domestic violence.)
  • Stalking is engaging in a course of conduct (2 or more acts) directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to:
    (A) Fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or
    (B) Suffer substantial emotional distress.

Hate Crimes

hate crime is a criminal offense committed against a person or property which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias. Bias is a pre-formed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their race, gender, religion, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity or national origin.

CSAs report the following crimes only if they occurred as a hate crime:

  • Larceny-Theft is the unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another.
    • Constructive possession is the condition in which a person does not have physical custody or possession, but is in a position to exercise dominion or control over a thing.
  • Simple Assault is an unlawful physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.
  • Intimidation is to unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack.
  • Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property is to willfully or maliciously destroy, damage, deface, or otherwise injure real or personal property without the consent of the owner or the person having custody or control of it.