There are three basic categories of sex crimes: Statutory Rape, Child Molest, Date Rape and Forcible Rape.
Statutory Rape
Statutory Rape is consensual sex between two people where the victim is under 18 years old. It is the least serious of the sex crimes and generally does not require sex registration, though, some cases allow a judge to order sex registration at her discretion.
These crimes range from the 19 year old boyfriend who has consensual sex with his 16 or 17 year old girlfriend, to the 30 year old man having an inappropriate (though consensual) sexual relationship with a girl under 18 but over 16. The law allows the judge to take into account the age difference when meting out punishment. There are three basic categories: under three years age difference, under five years and over ten years difference.
While typically Statutory Rape is considered a "strict liability" crime (meaning no defense) there are certain circumstances where a defense of "she told me she was 18" can be used. It is important if you are charged with a crime like this, you hire an experienced attorney to advise you.
Child Molest
These charges are very serious, but can be very defensible. Again, age matters when determining seriousness and punishment, but the key is how did the allegations arise. Many times a child will be used as a pawn between divorcing spouses, or can be "led" by overzealous, though well meaning social workers or therapists. Other times an older child can make the allegations out of anger or attention grabbing. In defending these alleged crimes it is very important to get experts involved. It requires a pediatric OBGYN to evaluate medical examination records, child psychologists to explain why a child can truly believe a molest occurred though it never did, an adolescent therapist to explain motivations to lie and intensive investigation of the family and / or witnesses.
It is very important to get someone on your side immediately if you are charged with or even suspected of this crime. Even seemingly innocuous statements can lead to a criminal investigation and charges if not dealt with quickly. An experienced criminal defense attorney can get to the bottom of false allegations and stop charges from even being filed if brought on board quickly enough.
Date Rape
This crime occurs between two people who know each other or have a relationship, but the sex is non-consensual. The state of the law is very specific and scary. The California Supreme Court has held that if a woman consents to sex initially, that consent can be withdrawn during the sex act and "one more thrust" by the man is considered rape. Once again, it is important to get someone on your side early in the process to get the proper experts involved and start the investigation. Of primary concern is the SART Exam which almost always be interpreted as "forcible rape" but there are experts who work on the defense side who will evaluate those reports and provide assistance.
Forcible Rape
Obviously, this is an extremely serious crime that requires the assistance of an experienced attorney right away. In these cases, often, DNA is the determining factor and while DNA testing is very accurate there can be issues. I use a DNA Laboratory out of Redlands, California that will evaluate the testing methods used by the police or prosecution; point out deficiencies in the collection, testing method or interpretation by the prosecution and do our own DNA testing. Many times an expert in the flaws of eyewitness identification is necessary. Believe it or not, eyewitness identification is some of the most unreliable evidence there can be. There are men currently being released from prison after serving a decade or more based on DNA testing after being convicted by eyewitness identification, often by the victim herself. Finally, the SART exam can be critical in determining whether the sex act was forced or consensual and a defense SART expert needs to be employed.
Do not wait...hire an experience attorney right away if you are being accused of these charges. |