Sex crimes are taken seriously in the US, and often come with jail time, fines, and sex offender registration. Once you are accused of a sex crime, you will be legally prohibited from being near schools and public parks where children play. You may even be listed in a local registry so that people in the community can find out about your offense. This embarrassing and frustrating offense can completely alter a person’s life. There are a variety of different sex crimes which can be prosecuted in a state court and merit these charges. Sex crimes involving minors often come with harsher sentences than those involving adults.
For example, the crime of child pornography can come with up to ten years in prison and a fine, and a person who commits a subsequent child pornography offense can be issued 5 to 15 years in incarceration. Child pornography crimes can be anything from producing sexually exploitive photographs to trafficking the photographs or videos for purchase. People can also be charged for viewing the pornography. In addition to child pornography, the federal law code take sexual abuse seriously. This can be anything from forcible touching to aggressive rape. The children do not necessarily have to be resistant in order to consider the actions sexual abuse. It is illegal for adults to have any sort of intimate relationship with a minor, so even if the child does not fight back, the acts can still be illegal.
As an adult, you can be sentenced with a decade of prison time for abusive sexual contact, sexual abuse of a minor, or aggravated sexual abuse. An offender can also be charged with sexual abuse if his or her victim is unconscious at the time of that the abuse took place. Many sex offenders will drug their victims so that they are drowsy and unable to defend themselves, or completely unconscious. Suspects also may force their victim to drink excessive amount of alcohol so that they are inhibited and less resistant to sexual activities. These are considered forms of abuse, and can bring up to a life sentence in prison in some cases. Also, when an offender threatens to kill, injure, or kidnap the victim if he or she does not comply, then this is also considered aggravated abuse.
On a federal level, it is illegal to engage in a sexual act with a child under the age of 12. While teenagers are not guarded under the federal code, they are often protected in the state codes. In a lot of states, children are protected by the child sex crime laws until they are 18 years old, meaning that even mature high school students are not legally allowed to have intercourse with an adult. In California, children under 18 are also not allowed to have intercourse with others their age, or they can be charged with a misdemeanor offense.
In 1990, Congress raised the sentence for sexual abuse of a minor who is between 12 and 16 years of age and is at least four years younger than the defendant. Now, the statutory maximum for this crime is 15 years. The government makes a serious distinction between sexual acts and sexual contact. Contact is physical touch of the private areas of a minor’s body.
While sexual contact can be traumatizing, it is regarded as separate from an actual sexual act, and is normally punished with a lighter sentence. Most people who are charged with the sexual contact offense are issued about two years in prison, but they can be sent behind bars for as many as 10 years. If you have been charged with a sex crime involving a minor, then you need representation on your case. Make sure to find a reliable and hard-working lawyer who can represent you and fight for your best interests in court!
