At Timothy Riley Law we understand that sex offense cases are often complex and sensitive matters. With 30 years of experience in criminal courtrooms, Attorney Timothy F. Riley has defended clients charged with a wide variety of sex crimes. Attorney Riley knows that these matters require an attorney who is knowledgeable in both the law and in navigating the sensitive nature of the case.
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What is Considered Sex Offense in California?
In California generally, you can be charged with a sex offense if you engage in a sexual act with another without their consent. The penalties could be severe and may include requirement to register as a sex offender. Sex offenses can include many crimes including rape, prostitution or solicitation, and more.
Rape
Under California law Penal Code section 261, rape is an act of sexual intercourse in which the other person does not consent or is incapable (due to age or disability) to consent, is intoxicated by drugs or alcohol, and/or is unconscious or otherwise unaware. Additionally, rape includes an act of sexual intercourse which is accomplished through duress, threat of bodily injury, threat of retaliation, threat of the use of the authority of a public figure, impersonating someone know to the victim, and/or impersonating a public figure, among other acts.
Under this Penal Code section, duress “means a direct or implied threat of force, violence, danger, or retribution sufficient to coerce a reasonable person of ordinary susceptibilities to perform an act which otherwise would not have been performed, or acquiesce in an act to which one otherwise would not have submitted. The total circumstances, including the age of the victim, and the victim’s relationship to the defendant, are factors to consider in appraising the existence of duress.”
Also under this Penal Code section, a threat of retaliation “means a threat to kidnap or falsely imprison, or to inflict extreme pain, serious bodily injury, or death.”
Statutory Rape
In California, statutory rape is any act of sexual intercourse with a person under 18 years of age where the other person is over 18 years of age (California Penal Code section 261.5). This does not include persons married to person under 18 years of age.
The severity of a statutory rape charge is determined by the age of the victim. If the victim is within three years of age of the perpetrator, a criminal charge under this code section is a misdemeanor. If there is an age difference greater than three years, or if the perpetrator is 21 years of age or older and the victim is under 16 years of age, a criminal charge under this code section may be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor.
California does not have “Romeo and Juliet” laws. These are laws which typically protect teenagers in existing romantic relationships from being charged with statutory rape when the older partner turns 18. However, in California any person engaging in a sexual act with a minor can be charged with statutory rape under Penal Code section 261.5 regardless of any existing relationship.
Prostitution/Solicitation
Per California Penal Code section 647, a person may be charged with a sex offense if they solicit, agree to, or engage in an act of prostitution “with the intent to receive compensation, money, or anything of value from another person.” This also includes the loitering on public or private property with the intent to solicit or engage in a lewd activity and engaging in a lewd activity in a public or open space. A person may also be charged with a sex crime under this code section if they peer into any space in which another person has reasonable expectation of privacy (bedroom, bathroom, dressing room, etc) by any mean including a concealed recording device or if they use a recording device to capture images of another person in partial or full undress or capture images under another person’s clothing without that person’s consent or knowledge.
Sexual Battery
In California, a sexual battery is the touching of an intimate part (sexual organ, anus, groin, or buttocks of any person, and the breast of a female) of another person without consent, under false pretense, while that person is restrained, and/or while that person is institutionalized in a medical or mental health institution (California Penal Code section 243.4). This also includes the non-consensual touching of an intimate part of another person who is disabled or mentally incapacitated. A person who touches an intimate part of another under professional pretenses (medical, law enforcement, etc) which are false is also guilty of sexual battery.
