A sex crime is an act of a sexual nature that you commit against the victim with the intent to bother them or obtain sexual arousal or gratification. The judge could convict you of a felony or a misdemeanor, depending on your criminal history and case facts. The law penalizes California sex offenses differently, and the penalties you face depend on your alleged criminal charges. These criminal consequences can include mandatory sex offender registration, loss of firearm rights, fines, and serving time, all with considerable implications for your professional and personal lives. Below, you will find these crimes and how they are penalized.

California Rape Law

Rape under PC 262 is having sexual intercourse with an individual who has not consented to it.

Sexual intercourse is penetration, no matter how slight, of the genitals or vagina with a penis. Ejaculation is not a must.

You also violate PC 261 when you realize sexual intercourse by:

  • Telling a person that you can retaliate against them or another person if they fail to give in.
  • Pretending to be somebody else, and the victim believes the lie.
  • Threatening to have someone deported, arrested, or jailed, and the individual thinks you are a law enforcer who can execute the threat.

Rape is a felony that is punishable by three, six, or eight years in state prison. It also carries a lifetime sex offender registration.

However, the court can enhance your sentence by three or five years if the victim sustained great bodily injury.

You will spend thirteen years in state prison if the victim is below thirteen. And if they are between fourteen and seventeen, your state prison sentence will be eleven years. It does not matter whether the minor lied about their age or you believed they were older.

A California sexual assault conviction is a strike per the Three Strikes law. That means the court will double your sentence if you have a previous felony and are subsequently convicted of another felony. If you are found guilty of a third felony, you will face life imprisonment.

Please note that the judge cannot grant the accused felony probation instead of incarceration if the defendant applied force or the victim suffered great bodily injuries.

Statutory Rape

You violate PC 261.5 when you engage in sexual intercourse with a person below 18 whom you are unmarried to at the time of the crime commission.

Unlike ordinary rape, in statutory rape, there are no requirements for the prosecution to establish that you applied force to achieve sexual intercourse or that the minor did not permit you to engage in sexual conduct. Children in California do not have consent to intercourse.

Statutory rape is a wobbler. The District Attorney can charge the crime as a felony or a misdemeanor, depending on the case's circumstances and your criminal history. Here is what to expect:

  • If the victim is not three years younger than you, then you will face a misdemeanor.
  • If you are at least three years older than the violator, your crime is a wobbler.
  • If you are older than 21 and the victim is below sixteen, the crime is a wobbler.

A misdemeanor is punishable by informal probation, one thousand dollars in fine, and a year in county jail. On the other hand, a felony carries the following penalties:

  • Probation with a year in jail.
  • Sixteen months, two years, or three years in jail.
  • A ten-thousand-dollar fine.

Finally, this crime can be a crime involving moral turpitude, depending on the victim’s age. A CIMT attracts deportation for immigrants.

Lascivious Conduct with a Minor

PC 288 prohibits child molestation (touching a minor below 14 with an intent to sexually gratify or arouse the defendant, the minor, or somebody else). Please note that touching the child goes beyond doing it on the child’s sexual organ(s) or skin. It can be on any body part and made through clothes or on bare skin.

The penalties a defendant faces depend on the following factors:

  • The child’s age.
  • Whether the accused used threats or force.
  • The accused's criminal records.

If you did not apply force, you will face a felony that attracts the following maximum penalties:

  • Ten thousand dollars in fine.
  • Eight (8) years in prison.

If you violate the crime using coercion, threats, force, or violence, you will spend up to ten years in prison and pay a ten-thousand-dollar fine.

Golden State has numerous statutes under which a judge can use to enhance lascivious conduct against a minor if the juvenile is injured. They include the following:

  • PC 667.61(d)(7) — Twenty years to life imprisonment for inflicting bodily injuries to an underage person below 14.
  • PC 12022.8 — A five-year sentencing enhancement for inflicting bodily injuries to a minor below 14.
  • PC 288i — Life imprisonment for inflicting bodily injuries to a minor below 14.

 Please note that the prosecutor can file any or all of these charges.

If you committed lewd conduct against a child between fourteen and fifteen and you are ten years older than them, the crime is a wobbler. A misdemeanor attracts a year in jail, while a felony attracts three (3) years in prison. 

The prosecution will not charge you with PC 288 if the juvenile was between 16 and 17 at the time of your crime commission. Instead, they will file sexual battery or statutory rape charges.

The D.A. will prosecute you under habitual sexual offender law (PC 667.71(b)) if your charges are for violating PC 288 and you have a previous sex crime conviction. California habitual sex offenders face a twenty-five-year sentence to life imprisonment.

Contacting a Juvenile to Commit a California Felony

PC 288.3 makes it illegal to communicate with or contact a minor, knowing the individual is below 18, with intentions to engage in sexual criminal conduct or other serious felony involving the child.

Please note that the judge can convict you even when you did not do anything unlawful with the child.

The penalties you face for Penal Code Section 288.3 PC are identical to those for committing a California felony. Typically, they are felonies carrying penalties, like:

  • Incarceration in prison.
  • A maximum fine of $10,000.
  • Formal probation.

If you were previously convicted of this crime, the court would enhance your violation by five years.

Additionally, a PC 288.3 conviction will subject you to registering as a sex offender. In most cases, the law will order you to register your name as a tier 3 offender carrying a lifetime registration.

Indecent Exposure

Before convicting you of PC 314, the prosecution must prove the following facts of the crime beyond any reasonable doubt:

  • You deliberately exposed your genitals.
  • In the presence of a person that your conduct would reasonably annoy or offend.
  • You intended to annoy another individual or sexually gratify somebody else or yourself.

A first-time PC 314 violation is a misdemeanor. A conviction is punishable by:

  • Six months in jail.
  • A fine that does not exceed one thousand dollars.
  • A ten-year sex offender registration obligation.

The crime becomes a felony if you engage in lewd conduct with a juvenile or have a previous PC 314 conviction. Felonies are punishable by:

  • A ten-year responsibility to register as a sex offender.
  • Up to three years in state prison.
  • A ten-thousand-dollar fine.

Many professional licensing agencies discipline members for sex offenses that require mandatory sex offender registration. It is common among doctors, nurses, lawyers, and dentists. Nevertheless, a misdemeanor PC 314 conviction can be an exemption from the rule.

Sexual Battery

PC 243.4 defines sexual assault or sexual battery as touching somebody else’s intimate parts without their permission to commit sexual abuse, gratification, or arousal intent.

Typically, sexual battery is a misdemeanor punishable by the penalties and consequences below:

  • Six months in county jail.
  • A two-thousand-dollar fine (The amount can be three thousand thousand dollars if the victim was your worker.).
  • Informal probation that requires you to abide by terms like completing a batterer’s education program, community service, and sex offender registration as a tier 1 sex offender for ten years.

However, the crime can become a felony if the following aggravating factors exist:

  • You illegally restrained the alleged victim.
  • The victim was institutionalized for medical attention and was severely medically incapacitated or disabled.
  • The victim did not know the act’s nature because you lied that the touch served professional purposes.
  • You made the victim touch the intimate body parts of you, your accomplice, or somebody else or masturbate.

A felony conviction carries the following penalties:

  • Formal probation.
  • Four years in state prison and an additional and consecutive five years if the victim suffered great bodily injuries.
  • Lifetime sex offender registration.
  • Ten thousand dollars in fine.

California Sodomy Laws

PC 286 defines sodomy as any contact between the penis of one individual and the anus of another under the following circumstances:

  • When the conduct is done with a juvenile.
  • Achieved through fear, violence, or force.
  • Performed on an individual who is unable to consent due to intoxication, unconsciousness, physical disabilities, or a mental health condition.
  • Done with a prison or fellow jail inmate.

Violation of PC 286 is a wobbler. A misdemeanor conviction attracts a year in jail, sex offender registration, and one thousand dollars in fines. On the other hand, a felony carries sex offender registration, three years in California state prison, and a fine that does not exceed ten thousand dollars.

Sodomy is also a crime involving moral turpitude. That means you risk being deported after serving your sentence as an immigrant.

Felony sodomy is a strike and can affect your firearm rights.

California Incest Law

The definition of incest per Penal Code Section 285 PC has the following facts:

  • You had sexual acts with or got married to somebody else.
  • When this happened, you and the other party were above 14 years.
  • You and the other individual are related to one another in one of the ways below:.
  1. Child and parent.
  2. Grandchild and grandparent.
  3. Sister and brother.
  4. Half-sister and half-brother.
  5. Nephew and aunt.
  6. Niece and uncle.

Violation of PC 285 is a California felony. Its potential consequences and penalties include ten thousand dollars in fines, three years in prison, and felony probation.

Incest defendants are tier-two sex offenders with compulsory registration for twenty years.

Forcible Penetration With a Foreign Object

California PC 289 PC defines the offense of forcible penetration by the use of a foreign object. The California statute describes this crime as penetrating the vagina or anus by violence, threats, or without the victim’s consent.

Upon conviction for a PC 289 violation, you face a maximum of eight (8) years in California state prison. If the alleged victim was a minor under 14, the prison sentence increases to 12 years. The judge can also order you to register as a sex offender.

Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Minor Below Fourteen

Before your PC 288.5 conviction, the prosecutor must prove the following elements of the crime:

  • You stayed in the same house with or had continuous access to a juvenile.
  • You engaged in at least three acts of sexual misconduct with a child.
  • At least three months have elapsed since your initial and last conduct.
  • The victim was 14 when you engaged in the behavior.

According to PC 288.5, sexual conduct can be either:

  • Penetration of the defendant’s or child’s rectum or vagina, or
  • Masturbation or oral copulation of either the defendant or child.

The crime is a felony, which carries the following maximum penalties:

  • A sixteen-yea state prison sentence.
  • A fine of $10,000.
  • Victim restitution.
  • A lifetime sex offender registration.

It is a violent and serious felony; hence, it counts as a California strike.

The judge can also issue a restraining court order, banning you from contacting the minor. Depending on the case facts, the California Child Protective Services authority can remove the minor from the home.

Oral Copulation With An Underage Child

Oral copulation is defined as any sexual contact between an individual’s mouth, genital area, or anus.

The law considers oral copulation legal when done in private between consenting adults. Nevertheless, it can be a criminal offense if done:

  • Without the victim’s consent.
  • With an underage child under California’s age of consent.
  • In public view.

Oral Copulation with Minor Penalties in California

Oral copulation with a child carries a prison sentence of up to 8 (eight) years if convicted of a felony or a maximum of a year in a county jail for a misdemeanor.

The charges depend on the ages of the individuals involved:

  • If the alleged victim is below 16 and you are older than 21, you will be prosecuted for a felony. The maximum prison sentence is three (3) years in prison.
  • If the alleged victim is under 14 and you are ten (10) years older than them, the maximum penalty now increases to eight years in prison.
  • If the victim is 16 or older and you are 21 or younger, the D.A. could prosecute the crime as a wobbler. A California misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in county jail, while a felony is punishable by a term not exceeding three years in state prison.

Common Defense Strategies to Sex Offenses Allegations

While each sex crime is unique, some defenses can apply to your criminal case. Some of the most common defenses include the following:

Victim’s Consent

If you claim that the alleged victim consented to your sexual conduct, then your skilled defense attorney should use this legal defense to fight the criminal charges.

Proving victim consent can be tricky; it is often a he-said/she-said scenario. Your attorney can submit proof of consent using:

  • Your accuser’s behavior after and before the conduct.
  • The nature of the victim’s current and past relationship with the accused person.

False Accusations

A mere sex crime allegation can be devastating to your reputation and life, even if those accusations of sex are later proven to be false. There could be circumstances in which a minor has been coached or coerced to accuse a person of a sex offense.

False accusations can also originate from the individual interviewing the victim’s mistake, which is a concern in criminal cases involving minors. For instance, an adult could misinterpret a minor’s narration of an event.

People can also falsely accuse you to gain the upper hand over you. It is a common phenomenon in child custody and divorce cases.

Mistaken Identity

It is a legal defense to your sex offense charge if you can establish that you were mistaken to be the perpetrator. Using DNA proof and proof of your location during the crime commission could be compelling.

Find a Sex Offense Defense Attorney Near Me

Sex crimes are some of the most aggressively prosecuted charges in California. They carry severe penalties like lengthy imprisonment, heavy fines, and social stigma. A conviction also carries a sex offender registration requirement after serving time, which can lead to challenges in finding housing and employment and affect legal issues like child custody. If you have been arrested or are under police investigation for a sex offense, you should hire a dedicated, discreet, and experienced defense attorney immediately. Los Angeles Criminal Attorney understands the importance of effectively collecting and analyzing evidence to raise doubt and develop legal defenses to obtain the most favorable case outcome. We can stand with you throughout the criminal judicial process and help you fight for your freedom, reputation, future, career, family, and employment. Please call us at 424-333-0943 to learn how we can help you.