565.076. Domestic assault in the fourth degree, penalty.
It’s a crime to hurt or scare someone close to you—even without serious injury.
This law makes it illegal to hurt, scare, or isolate someone you’re close to. (A “domestic victim” means a spouse, ex, someone you live with or used to, someone you’re dating or have dated, or a family member.)
1. A person commits fourth-degree domestic assault if they do any of the following to a domestic victim:
- Try to or recklessly cause injury, pain, or illness;
- Cause injury through carelessness using a deadly weapon or dangerous object;
- Purposely make the person fear they’re about to be hurt;
- Recklessly do something that creates a serious risk of death or major injury;
- Touch them in a way they find offensive, knowing they’d feel that way;
- Try to isolate them by cutting off contact with people, phones, or transportation.
2. This is usually a class A misdemeanor. But if the person has two or more prior offenses—whether under this law, other assault laws, or similar laws in any state or under federal or military law—it becomes a class E felony. The past offenses can be against the same or different domestic victims.
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