What is a Sex Offense?

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 261, rape is an act of sexual intercourse accomplished under any of various circumstances including if a person who is not the spouse of the person (acts against a spouse may be prosecuted under California law as well) committing the act is incapable, because of a mental disorder or developmental or physical disability, of giving legal consent, and this is known or reasonably should be known to the person committing the act. If it is accomplished against a person’s will by means of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the person or another. If a person is prevented from resisting by an intoxicating or anesthetic substance, or a controlled substance, and this condition was known, or reasonably should have been known by the accused. If a person is at the time unconscious of the nature of the act, and this is known to the accused or unconscious of the nature of the act or incapable of resisting because the victim may be unconscious or asleep, was not aware, knowing, perceiving, or cognizant that the act occurred, was not aware, knowing, perceiving, or cognizant of the essential characteristics of the act due to the perpetrator’s fraud in fact, was not aware, knowing, perceiving, or cognizant of the essential characteristics of the act due to the perpetrator’s fraudulent representation that the sexual penetration served a professional purpose when it served no professional purpose.

Also, if a person submits under the belief that the person committing the act is someone known to the victim other than the accused, and this belief is induced by artifice, pretense, or concealment practiced by the accused, with intent to induce the belief. If the act is accomplished against the victim’s will by threatening to retaliate in the future against the victim or any other person, and there is a reasonable possibility that the perpetrator will execute the threat. Threatening to retaliate means a threat to kidnap or falsely imprison, or to inflict extreme pain, serious bodily injury, or death. If the act is accomplished against the victim’s will by threatening to use the authority of a public official to incarcerate, arrest, or deport the victim or another, and the victim has a reasonable belief that the perpetrator is a public official. A public official includes a person employed by a governmental agency who has the authority, as part of that position, to incarcerate, arrest, or deport another. The perpetrator does not actually have to be a public official.

Timothy F. Riley is a Trusted San Diego Criminal Defense Lawyer with Nearly 30 Years of Experience. Call (619) 500-1289

Prostitution/Solicitation

Per California law Penal Code 647, an individual may be charged with this offense if an individual solicits, or agrees to engage in, or who engages in, an act of prostitution with the intent to receive compensation, money, or anything of value from another person. An individual agrees to engage in an act of prostitution when, with specific intent to so engage, the individual manifests an acceptance of an offer or solicitation by another person to so engage, regardless of whether the offer or solicitation was made by a person who also possessed the specific intent to engage in an act of prostitution. An individual who solicits, or who agrees to engage in, or who engages in, an act of prostitution with another person who is 18 years of age or older in exchange for the individual providing compensation, money, or anything of value to the other person. An individual agrees to engage in an act of prostitution when, with specific intent to so engage, the individual manifests an acceptance of an offer or solicitation by another person who is 18 years of age or older to so engage, regardless of whether the offer or solicitation was made by a person who also possessed the specific intent to engage in an act of prostitution.

An individual who solicits, or who agrees to engage in, or who engages in, an act of prostitution with another person who is a minor in exchange for the individual providing compensation, money, or anything of value to the minor. An individual agrees to engage in an act of prostitution when, with specific intent to so engage, the individual manifests an acceptance of an offer or solicitation by someone who is a minor to so engage, regardless of whether the offer or solicitation was made by a minor who also possessed the specific intent to engage in an act of prostitution.

Timothy F. Riley is a Trusted San Diego Criminal Defense Lawyer with Nearly 30 Years of Experience. Call (619) 500-1289