18 V.S.A. § 7104: Wrongful hospitalization or denial of rights; fraud; elopement

A person shall be fined not more than $500.00 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both, if he or she willfully causes, or conspires with or assists another to cause:

(1) the hospitalization of an individual knowing that the individual is not mentally ill or in need of hospitalization or treatment as an individual with a mental illness or intellectual disability; or

(2) the denial to any individual of any rights granted to him or her under this part of this title; or

(3) the voluntary admission to a hospital of an individual, knowing that he or she is not mentally ill or eligible for treatment, thereby attempting to defraud the State; or

(4) the elopement of any patient from a hospital or who knowingly harbors any patient who has eloped, or who aids in abducting a patient who has been conditionally discharged from the person or persons in whose care and service that patient has been legally placed.