A. Any person who commits domestic abuse, as defined by subsection C of Section 644 of this title, and has a prior pattern of physical abuse shall be guilty of a felony, upon conviction, punishable by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not more than ten (10) years or by a fine not exceeding Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or by both such fine and imprisonment.
B. For purposes of this section, "prior pattern of physical abuse" means two or more separate incidences, including the current incident, occurring on different days and each incident relates to an act constituting assault and battery or domestic abuse committed by the defendant against a current or former spouse, a present spouse of a former spouse, parents, a foster parent, a child, a person otherwise related by blood or marriage, a person with whom the defendant is in a dating relationship, an individual with whom the defendant has had a child, a person who formerly lived in the same household as the defendant, a person living in the same household as the defendant, a current intimate partner or former intimate partner, or any combination of such persons, where proof of each incident prior to the present incident is established by the sworn testimony of a third party who was a witness to the alleged physical abuse or by other admissible direct evidence that is independent of the testimony of the victim.
Added by Laws 2009, c. 457, § 1, eff. July 1, 2009. Amended by Laws 2014, c. 71, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2014; Laws 2016, c. 128, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2016.