235B.2 - DEFINITIONS.

        235B.2  DEFINITIONS.
         As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
         1.  "Caretaker" means a related or nonrelated person who has
      the responsibility for the protection, care, or custody of a
      dependent adult as a result of assuming the responsibility
      voluntarily, by contract, through employment, or by order of the
      court.
         2.  "Court" means the district court.
         3.  "Department" means the department of human services.
         4.  "Dependent adult" means a person eighteen years of age or
      older who is unable to protect the person's own interests or unable
      to adequately perform or obtain services necessary to meet essential
      human needs, as a result of a physical or mental condition which
      requires assistance from another, or as defined by departmental rule.

         5. a.  "Dependent adult abuse" means:
         (1)  Any of the following as a result of the willful or negligent
      acts or omissions of a caretaker:
         (a)  Physical injury to, or injury which is at a variance with the
      history given of the injury, or unreasonable confinement,
      unreasonable punishment, or assault of a dependent adult.
         (b)  The commission of a sexual offense under chapter 709 or
      section 726.2 with or against a dependent adult.
         (c)  Exploitation of a dependent adult which means the act or
      process of taking unfair advantage of a dependent adult or the
      adult's physical or financial resources for one's own personal or
      pecuniary profit, without the informed consent of the dependent
      adult, including theft, by the use of undue influence, harassment,
      duress, deception, false representation, or false pretenses.
         (d)  The deprivation of the minimum food, shelter, clothing,
      supervision, physical or mental health care, or other care necessary
      to maintain a dependent adult's life or health.
         (2)  The deprivation of the minimum food, shelter, clothing,
      supervision, physical or mental health care, and other care necessary
      to maintain a dependent adult's life or health as a result of the
      acts or omissions of the dependent adult.
         (3) (a)  Sexual exploitation of a dependent adult by a caretaker.

         (b)  "Sexual exploitation" means any consensual or
      nonconsensual sexual conduct with a dependent adult which includes
      but is not limited to kissing; touching of the clothed or unclothed
      inner thigh, breast, groin, buttock, anus, pubes, or genitals; or a
      sex act, as defined in section 702.17.  "Sexual exploitation"
      includes the transmission, display, taking of electronic images of
      the unclothed breast, groin, buttock, anus, pubes, or genitals of a
      dependent adult by a caretaker for a purpose not related to treatment
      or diagnosis or as part of an ongoing assessment, evaluation, or
      investigation.  Sexual exploitation does not include touching which
      is part of a necessary examination, treatment, or care by a caretaker
      acting within the scope of the practice or employment of the
      caretaker; the exchange of a brief touch or hug between the dependent
      adult and a caretaker for the purpose of reassurance, comfort, or
      casual friendship; or touching between spouses.
         b.  "Dependent adult abuse" does not include any of the
      following:
         (1)  Circumstances in which the dependent adult declines medical
      treatment if the dependent adult holds a belief or is an adherent of
      a religion whose tenets and practices call for reliance on spiritual
      means in place of reliance on medical treatment.
         (2)  Circumstances in which the dependent adult's caretaker,
      acting in accordance with the dependent adult's stated or implied
      consent, declines medical treatment if the dependent adult holds a
      belief or is an adherent of a religion whose tenets and practices
      call for reliance on spiritual means in place of reliance on medical
      treatment.
         (3)  The withholding or withdrawing of health care from a
      dependent adult who is terminally ill in the opinion of a licensed
      physician, when the withholding or withdrawing of health care is done
      at the request of the dependent adult or at the request of the
      dependent adult's next of kin, attorney in fact, or guardian pursuant
      to the applicable procedures under chapter 125, 144A, 144B, 222, 229,
      or 633.
         6.  "Emergency shelter services" means and includes, but is
      not limited to, secure crisis shelters or housing for victims of
      dependent adult abuse.
         7.  "Family or household member" means a spouse, a person
      cohabiting with the dependent adult, a parent, or a person related to
      the dependent adult by consanguinity or affinity, but does not
      include children of the dependent adult who are less than eighteen
      years of age.
         8.  "Immediate danger to health or safety" means a situation
      in which death or severe bodily injury could reasonably be expected
      to occur without intervention.
         9.  "Individual employed as an outreach person" means a
      natural person who, in the course of employment, makes regular
      contacts with dependent adults regarding available community
      resources.
         10.  "Legal holiday" means a legal public holiday as defined
      in section 1C.1.
         11.  "Person" means person as defined in section 4.1.
         12.  "Recklessly" means that a person acts or fails to act
      with respect to a material element of a public offense, when the
      person is aware of and consciously disregards a substantial and
      unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result
      from the act or omission.  The risk must be of such a nature and
      degree that disregard of the risk constitutes a gross deviation from
      the standard conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the
      situation.
         13.  "Serious injury" means a disabling mental illness, or a
      bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which
      causes serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or
      impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.
         14.  "Support services" includes but is not limited to
      community-based services including area agency on aging assistance,
      mental health services, fiscal management, home health services,
      housing-related services, counseling services, transportation
      services, adult day services, respite services, legal services, and
      advocacy services.  
         Section History: Recent Form
         87 Acts, ch 182, § 9; 88 Acts, ch 1238, § 3; 91 Acts, ch 231, § 2;
      92 Acts, ch 1143, § 6, 7; 93 Acts, ch 76, §7; 95 Acts, ch 51, § 3; 96
      Acts, ch 1130, § 2; 2001 Acts, ch 64, §7; 2006 Acts, ch 1030, §26;
      2008 Acts, ch 1093, § 3; 2009 Acts, ch 107, § 1
         Referred to in § 231B.10, 231D.5, 235B.3, 235B.16A, 692A.102,
      726.8, 915.84