Penal Law § 260.31 · Article 260. Offenses Relating to Children, Disabled Persons and Vulnerable Elderly Persons
Vulnerable elderly persons; definitions
Text — Law content up to date as of October 23, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
* § 260.31 Vulnerable elderly persons; definitions.
For the purpose of sections 260.32 and 260.34 of this article, the following definitions shall apply:
1. "Caregiver" means a person who (i) assumes responsibility for the care of a vulnerable elderly person, or an incompetent or physically disabled person pursuant to a court order; or (ii) receives monetary or other valuable consideration for providing care for a vulnerable elderly person, or an incompetent or physically disabled person.
2. "Sexual contact" means any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person for the purpose of gratifying sexual desire of either party. It includes the touching of the actor by the victim, as well as the touching of the victim by the actor, whether directly or through clothing, as well as the emission of ejaculate by the actor upon any part of the victim, clothed or unclothed.
3. "Vulnerable elderly person" means a person sixty years of age or older who is suffering from a disease or infirmity associated with advanced age and manifested by demonstrable physical, mental or emotional dysfunction to the extent that the person is incapable of adequately providing for his or her own health or personal care.
4. "Incompetent or physically disabled person" means an individual who is unable to care for himself or herself because of physical disability, mental disease or defect.
* NB There are 2 § 260.31's
Source of truth
- Edition
- Law content up to date as of October 23, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
- Official file
- https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/PEN260.31
- Text hash
- sha256 9505290a198c2037ff091f0a0b0f3fdd956af0a321c50d0d165c9211653b2e21
- Composed by
- gen_ny_statutes.py 2026-11-10: the Senate's Open Legislation law tree (GET /api/3/laws/<ID>?full=true) read in document order; the Senate's PDF of the whole law (GET /pdf/laws/<ID>?full=true), read with PDFium, prints the same words in the same order
- The Senate's note "There are 2 § 260.31's": the Legislature enacted more than one unit under that number; each is printed.
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.