A 30-year-old Engleside man was arrested Tuesday in connection with the sexual assault of a 12-year-old Woodbridge girl and has become the first person in Fairfax County, and possibly in the Commonwealth, to be charged with tongue-kissing a child under the age of 13, Fairfax County police said.
Police say Timothy L. Champion was “playing” with the girl and her friend at an Engleside-area home Tuesday morning when, at some point, he held the 12-year-old girl down, gave her an tongue kiss her and touched her inappropriately.
The victim and the other child immediately left the house and called family members for assistance. There were no injuries.
Champion was charged with abduction with intent to defile, aggravated sexual battery and tongue kissing a child under the age of 13, a new law that went into effect July 1 that makes it illegal for someone over 18 to penetrate the mouth of someone under 13 with their tongue.
The so-called “French kissing” law was passed by a wide margin this spring and requires anyone convicted of the charge to register as a sex offender, pay up to a $2,500 fine and spend up to a year in prison.
It was introduced by Del. Riley Ingram, R-Hopewell, on behalf of a woman whose 10-year-old daughter was allegedly tongued-kissed by the 62-year-old husband of her babysitter. Previously, the only charge prosecutors could have leveled for the same act was contributing to the delinquency of minor, which did not require that he register as a sex offender.
