Sexual Battery
LA Criminal Defense Attorney firm is a respectable law firm which deals with criminal defense while serving the area of Los Angeles, California. They are in a position to defend you against charges for sexual battery or any other related charges.
Sexual battery which is also referred to as sexual assault is prohibited under the California Penal Code 243.4 PC. It is quite a complex statute which also attracts far-reaching consequences such as fines, jail time, mandatory probation periods, loss of practice licenses and even a loss of permit to own a firearm.
Due to the above fact, we will elaborate further on this crime, define it according to the laws in California and discuss possible penalties and defenses that you and your attorney could use to obtain a case reduction or possible dismissal, below.
What is Sexual Battery According to California Laws?
The California Penal Code 243.4 PC forbids the act touching someone’s intimate parts with an aim of getting sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse, from the act without the direct consent of that person. This law is also known as the sexual battery law and is differentiated from the California Penal Code 261 PC which prohibits the crime of rape by the fact that sexual battery does not involve the act of sexual intercourse or penetration.
Nevertheless, the California Penal Code 243.4 PC recognizes serious forms of sexual assault as aggravated sexual battery and offenders may receive harsher punishments if convicted. Aggravated sexual battery occurs when the above definition of sexual assault is met and also the victim is;
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Unlawfully held either by the perpetrator of the sexual battery or their accomplice,
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Under the care of a medical facility, disabled or incapacitated,
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Not aware of the perpetrator’s motive because they misrepresented the touching as aimed at a professional task,
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Forced to touch themselves or another person sexually or forced to masturbate for the perpetrators pleasure.
To better understand this code, we will explain the following terms as used under the California sexual assault law.
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Touch
This word has different meanings depending on whether you are facing a misdemeanor or felony sexual battery charge. To ‘touch' in a misdemeanor sexual assault offense implies to come in to contact with the victim's intimate parts directly or through either person's clothes.
Touching in a felony sexual battery charge means to come into contact with the unclothed or bare skin of the victim directly or through your clothes. Thus it is not a felonious charge if the complainant body is clothed even if you used bare hands to commit the violation.
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Intimate Parts
The intimate parts of any individual are identified as the buttocks, sexual organs, anus, groin or a female’s breasts.
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Direct Consent
Direct consent means that the other person gave consent voluntarily, freely and willingly knowing the true nature of the acts they are consenting to. Thus, the victim understands that the touching is either for sexual gratification or for professional purposes and they allowed it. If the defendant misrepresented the facts to gain the advantage of the victim, then the consent is canceled.
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Sexual Abuse, Arousal, and Gratification
Touching another person sexually with the aim of humiliating, hurting, injuring or intimidating them is considered a sexual battery violation even if the offender never intended to enjoy sexual pleasure.
The demeanor or talk of the defendant during the act may be used to imply arousal or gratification; however, it is not a must that they are sexually relieved to be deemed guilty of this offense.
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Unlawfully Held or Restrained
If the defendant used their authority, words or acts to restrain the movement of the victim against their choice then the defendant can be said to have unlawfully held the victims.
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Accomplice
A person is an accomplice to a sexual battery violation if they were aware of the primary defendants' acts and their nature and if they took part in a joint effort to commit the violation.
If you are an accomplice to a crime, you are charged under the same code as the primary defendant or culprit.
What are the Penalties for Sexual Battery in California?
If the sexual battery is in its basic form as in the defendant touched the victims’ intimate parts against their will aiming at sexual gratification, abuse or arousal then they may be charged with misdemeanor sexual battery provided there were no instances of the aggravated sexual assault discussed above.
The penalties for misdemeanor sexual battery are a six (6) months term in county jail, a two thousand dollars ($2000) or three thousand dollars $3000 fine in case the victim was your employee. You may also face informal probation going up to five (5) years that may include completion of a program for batterers, community service, completing a sexual compulsion reform program, and/or registration as a sex offender in tier one as obligated under penal code 290 PC for up to 10 years.
If any of the aggravating factors above apply in your case, the crime automatically becomes a wobbler meaning that it can be punished as a felony or a misdemeanor depending on the facts of the crime and a defendant’s criminal record and this is ultimately upon the prosecutor to decide. Thus, you may face a misdemeanor sexual battery charge even if you committed sexual assault under any of the aggravating circumstances, with the charge attracting similar penalties as discussed above but with an increased jail term of up to one (1) year.
In case the prosecuting attorney files felony sexual battery charges against you, you may face a felony or formal probation, a fine of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000), a California state prison term of two (2), three (3) or four (4) years which may also include an additional 3 to 5 years if the victim sustained significant physical injury, and/or compulsory registration as a sex offender in tier three (3) for life.
It is, however, worth noting that if the defendant is convicted of felony sexual assault where the victim was institutionalized, medically incapacitated or seriously disabled, they are required to register as tier one sexual offenders for ten years in addition to the other penalties for felony sexual battery violation.
What are the Sexual Assault Probation Terms in California?
If you are put on probation, it means that you are under supervision and you should obey the terms set forth during your probation period. These terms include;
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Pay a visit to your probation officer as mandated in your probation terms’
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Violate no other code ( a minor traffic infraction may be overlooked),
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Partake sexual addiction rehabilitation classes,
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Random testing for drugs,
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Perform community service,
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Random searches of your residence or on your person.
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Other Likely Results of a Sexual Battery Conviction
Sexual battery can be regarded as a crime of moral turpitude depending on the facts of the case such as if the victim sustained a serious bodily injury during the sexual battery. As such, a conviction could lead to serious consequences to the defendant if they were;
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Not US citizens- Immigrants who are convicted of crimes of moral turpitude, that is, the aggravated sexual assault, in this case, may lose their US citizenship, rights to apply for new citizenship or the green card.
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Licensed professionals- Professionals such as dentists, lawyers, doctors, and nurses may lose their practicing licenses if sentenced for a sexual battery which fits the description of a crime of moral turpitude.
A defendant may also receive other additional penalties such as firearm prohibition, restraining orders, loss of family legal rights and civil lawsuits.
What are the Legal Defenses to Sexual Battery Charges in California?
There is hardly a perfect defense that can apply to all sexual battery cases since they are all different however we will elaborate on common defenses that our attorney can help you articulate in court in case you are facing sexual battery charges in California.
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False Accusations
In a sexual battery case, the prosecutor has little evidence to convict you and often rely on the victims’ or witnesses’ accounts since these cases do not necessarily require physical injury or other evidence of contact. Sometimes the victims are mentally challenged persons in medical facilities who can come up with such allegations with absolutely no grounds. They may also be disgruntled spouses in child custody cases, victims seeking revenge or people looking to extort money from the defendant. Our attorney is in a position to defend you by poking holes to the prosecution’s evidence to justify your innocence.
The false allegations defense mostly overlaps with that of insufficient evidence and that of consent which provides your attorney with a wide choice of counter-arguments.
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Consent
Sometimes the victim may behave in such a way that implies that they have given consent to sexual touching for purposes of sexual gratification. Consent may be inferred by the victim’s demeanor, comments or failure to decline the sexual advances, which may give the defendant the reason to believe that they have agreed to their sexual advances.
The circumstances before the sexual touching may also imply consent, for instance, if the defendant met a date on a sex dating website they may conclude that their date has already consented to their sexual advances.
This form of defense cannot, however, be applied in case the defendant misrepresented facts to conceal their intentions, forced or coerced the victim to consent or if the alleged victim was incapacitated, or not in a position to think reasonably.
In some instances, the victim may withdraw the consent by communicating to their partners but if they do not stop or restrains the victim then they might be charged with sexual battery violation.
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Lack of evidence
As pointed out earlier, sexual assault acts may not leave physical evidence for the prosecutor to sustain sexual battery allegations in court and thus, an experienced attorney is able to have the charges against you reduced or thrown out. They may argue that the evidence presented against you is not sufficient to sustain sexual battery charges against you.
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Statute of Limitations
Under this law, the prosecutor has a limited time within which they may file sexual battery charges against you. For the Penal Code 243.4 PC, the prosecuting attorney has to file misdemeanor charges within a year and felony charges within three (3) years.
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Intoxication
Since most sexual battery cases are likely to occur around alcohol and drinking sprees, our attorney could help you argue that you were too intoxicated to even form the intent to sexually arouse or gratify yourself during the sexual abuse or touching of the victim.
What Violations are Related to the California Sexual Battery Charge?
The following offenses are closely related to the crime of sexual battery such that they may be charged together with or instead of the California Penal Code 243.3 PC since they have common elements of the crime. They include;
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California Battery Law
The California law against battery is contained in the Penal Code 242 PC and defines it as the uninvited and unwanted touching of another person in an offensive or harmful way, be it of a sexual nature or not. The Penal Code 242 PC, also known as Simple Battery is related to the California Penal Code 243.4 PC in that they both require the act of battery to be deemed complete.
A conviction under this law attracts a six (6) months county jail term, a thousand dollars ($1000) in fines, or both jail time and fine.
If for example you grabbed another person’s hand and placed it on your groin, you may be charged under the California Penal Code 242 PC and not the Penal Code 243.4 PC since you did not touch the person’s intimate parts but you willingly touched the person forcefully against their wishes in a manner deemed to be offensive.
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California Rape Law
This law is defined under the California Penal Code 261 PC which penalizes you for having non-consensual intercourse with someone else achieved by means of threats, force, intimidation or fraud. This law is differentiated from Penal Code 243.4 PC, California’s sexual battery law by the fact that there has to be sexual intercourse for it to be considered rape. A rape crime is punished as a felony under the California code by a maximum of 8 years in state prison, with the prison term likely to be enhanced if the victim suffered great bodily harm or if other aggravating crimes were committed. It is also a ‘strike' under California's three strikes law.
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Lewd Acts on a Child
The law barring lewd acts on a child is contained under the Penal Code 288 (a) PC in California and it prohibits an adult from engaging in a sexual act with a person of less than fourteen (14) years. To be guilty of this provision, the defendant must have intended to sexually gratify or arouse themselves or the minor.
Sexual battery relates to the lewd acts on a child law in that sexual assault can also occur during the commission of the crime under Penal Code 288 (a) PC and thus, you can be charged with violating both Penal Code 243.4 PC and Penal Code 288 (a) PC.
The penalties for performing lewd acts on a child are quite severe compared to those of sexual battery and they include, an eight (8) year term in a state prison or, a ten thousand dollars fine ($10,000), an additional $10,000 fine or both imprisonment and fine and a mandatory duty to register as a sex offender for up to 10 years.
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California Statutory Rape
This code is found under the California Penal Code 261.5 PC and it prohibits a person aged eighteen years (18) or older (adult) from engaging in sexual intercourse with a person below 18 years (a minor) who is not a spouse or married to the offender.
Thus, the crime of statutory rape is differentiated from Penal Code 261 PC, California's Rape law in that PC 261.5 prohibits acts of rape against minors. It is hence a wobbler, punished as either a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the presence of aggravating factors and a defendant’s criminal history.
If it is penalized as a misdemeanor, you are fined up to a thousand dollars ($1000), a six months county jail term, or both jail time and fine. Unlike the crime of sexual battery, statutory rape does not accept consent of a minor as a defense unless your attorney convinces the court that you reasonably believed that the minor was an adult.
This law is related to the California Penal code 243.4 PC in that one can be charged with sexual battery statutory rape if they had non-consensual sexual intercourse with a minor.
Sexual Assault Law Changes Since January 2017
Changes to laws are always executed at the beginning of every year and as from 2017, there were changes to the sexual battery laws which we will discuss below.
If you commit sexual battery on a severely intoxicated person or an unconscious victim you are not entitled to probation but instead, you must serve time in prison or jail. Also, the issue of consent was clarified by the California Assembly bill AB2888, which stated that a person cannot be said to have given consent while incapacitated by drugs or alcohol or while unconscious.
The AB701 also made some amendments to the definition of the crime of rape, such that anyone convicted of rape receives a compulsory minimum prison term. Previously, violators of the California code against rape that had intercourse with a severely intoxicated or unconscious person who could not have given consent received lesser penalties than offenders who raped a conscious person.
Registration as a Sex Offender
The California Department of Justice (DOJ) maintains a registered sex offender database under the Sex Offender Tracking Program. If you are convicted of specific sex crime such as sexual battery, the law requires you to register with the local law enforcement as a sex offender.
This law as noted above is held under the California Penal Code 290 PC and is commonly referred to Megan’s Law. Sex offenders are notified of this obligation before they are released from jail, state prison, rehabilitation program or prior to completing their probation terms. Such notification is also filed with the Department of Justice and after they comply, their registration form is sent to the DOJ.
Depending on the circumstances of their crime, the sex offenders are mandated by law to update the information either annually, monthly or after every 3 months. If one fails to update the system, they may be held to be in violation of the California sex offenders laws Penal Code 290 (b) PC. This crime is a misdemeanor or a felony in California depending on whether you had been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony sex crime or whether this is your first time to fail to register.