Statutory Rape

Being convicted of a sex crime has consequences that can follow a person for the rest of his/her life. In California for instance, a person convicted of a sex crime is forced to register as a sex offender every year for the rest of his/her life. As if that is not enough, you may not be allowed to work or live in certain neighborhoods if you are lucky to avoid a long-term jail sentence. Statutory rape is one of the severely punished sex crimes in the state of California. However, there are chances of a case dismissal or reduction of penalties if you are working with an experienced LA Criminal Defense Attorney. We have many years of experience working with clients around Los Angeles County.

Legal Definition of Statutory Rape

Statutory rape happens if a person, who is already at a consenting age, engages in sex with a person below the consenting age. The consenting age, in this case, means the age at which a person can lawfully agree to have sex. In California, the age of consent is set at 18 and above, if you are under 18 years old you are seen as a minor who is incapable of agreeing to sex. In the case of statutory rape, a person of 18 years of age and over, engages in sex with a person who is not his/her spouse and the person is below the age of 18, can be charged and thereafter convicted of the crime of statutory rape.

Statutory rape is one of the serious crimes of unlawful sexual intercourse in California, popularly known as sex crimes. Reports of sex crimes are on the rise in California and in most cases, these reports come from unreliable sources or from people who have hidden agendas. Some people have been wrongfully accused of sex crimes by people that they once trusted and loved. Even if most of these cases lack physical evidence, the law will still take its course in case some circumstantial evidence pops up and you are found guilty of the offense. It will take a smart attorney to work things out and prepare a strong defense for you to win such a case.

In California, the crime of Statutory Rape is provided in Section 261.5 of the California Penal Code. As per this section of the law, the crime is well-defined as engaging in a sexual act with a person under the age of 18, who is not your wife/husband at the time of the act. Since the law regards persons under the age of 18 as minors and incapable of giving consent to sex, the act will still be considered as a crime even if the minor consented to or initiated the sex.

Elements of Statutory Rape

There are only two elements of statutory rape:

  • That you engaged in sexual intercourse
  • That the person you had sex with was a child under the consenting age

The very first thing the prosecutor will want to know is if indeed there was sexual intercourse between the defendant and the victim. The intercourse, in this case, should have gone to the extent of actual penetration. There also must be proof, with clear evidence that the act happened.

In addition to that, the prosecutor has to prove that the victim was below the legal age at the time he/she was raped. If indeed the victim was below 18 years of age, there will be no need to prove consent. After that, the state may provide clear evidence of sexual intercourse.

Other elements of rape, such as consent, are not usable elements in the case of statutory rape because the law provides that a child is incapable of giving consent to sex. Statutory rape does not also include assault or use of force.

While the motive and intent of the offender are often overlooked, the age of the victim is a very important element in the crime of statutory rape. The law expects the offender to have known the age of his/her victim and so, not knowing the age of the victim is not admissible as defense and will not be allowed by the court.

Again, the court will not consider whether the victim was chaste before the rape, as this is considered as irrelevant unless in the event that the statute calls for it. Whether or not the victim is married does not allow the defendant to engage the minor in illegal sexual intercourse.

Note that the law pertaining to statutory rape protects both male and female children. An adult woman can be prosecuted if they are found guilty of having a sexual relationship with an underage boy.

How a Prosecutor Proves the Elements of Statutory Rape

To be convicted of statutory rape, the state must prove the elements of statutory rape provided above. If there was any amount of penetration, whether slight or considerable, you may be found guilty of the offense. Whether or not there was ejaculation will not be important in this case.

If it is a case between two married people, the prosecutor will try to prove that the two were not married at the time of the crime. However, note that the fact that the minor was married at the time of crime does not excuse statutory rape. This means that statutory laws in California allow for such charges to rise even when there is a loving and caring relationship between the defendant and the victim.

The age of both the victim and the defendant will be a very important factor in the sentencing of such a crime. But how does the prosecutor determine the age of the two parties if the crime happened so many years ago?

In California, a person becomes a year older one minute after the midnight of their date of birth.

Note that minors too can be charged with statutory rape. This may be a little tricky for the prosecutor because the defendant in the case is also a minor, which technically makes him/her a victim of the offense. This could explain why many prosecutors in California are not so keen on charging teenagers who are having sexual relations with other teenagers. This, however, does not mean that it can happen. If one of the teenagers is forced by circumstances to move to court to report another teenager of statutory rape, the prosecutor will not have an option but to indict the guilty offender. A case involving two minors will probably be tried in a state’s juvenile court.

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Penalties for Statutory Rape in California

Section 261.5 of the California Penal Code is very clear about the various penalties that a person found guilty of statutory rape should face. The penalties vary greatly, according to the age of the minor and that of the perpetrator. According to this law, statutory rape, also known as unlawful sex with a minor is a wobbler and so, it can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor depending on the circumstances of its occurrence.

The crime can be charged as a misdemeanor if the defendant's and victim's age difference is not more than three years. If the defendant’s age is three years more than that of the victim, or more, the crime could be prosecuted as either a felony or a misdemeanor.

Depending on the circumstances and the prosecutor, statutory rape can be treated as a felony or misdemeanor if the victim is under the age of 16 and the defendant is 21 years old or older.

What this means is that the age difference between the minor and the defendant is usually one of the major factors that are considered by the prosecutor when trying the case. In the above scenario, where the defendant is over 21 years of age and the victim is below 16 years old, the punishments could be more severe. In that case, the defendant could be sentenced to up to four years in state prison.

As a misdemeanor, statutory rape will be punished with:

  • An informal or summary probation
  • A maximum of one-year jail term and/or
  • A fine of not more than one thousand dollars

If the crime is charged as a felony, the defendant will be punished by:

  • One year of formal or informal probation with a jail term of not more than one year
  • In a case of a more severe form of statutory rape, the defendant may face a jail term of between 16 months and 4 years in state prison
  • A fine of not more than $10,000 together with the jail term

In the case where the minor was below the age of 16 and the accused was above 21 years of age, the state prison term will range between two and four years.

There are civil penalties for statutory rape, which a defendant could face together with the above punishments. These are usually non-criminal penalties that the defendant will be required to pay, together with paying the criminal fines and serving the jail term. However, only adult defendants, who are above 18 years of age, can be forced to pay the civil fines. These fines include:

  • A fine of $2000 for a case where the alleged minor is not more than two years younger than his/her abuser
  • A fine of $5000 for a case where the defendant is at the minimum two years older than the accused
  • A fine of $10,000 for a case where the defendant is at the minimum three years older than the victim
  • A fine of $25,000 for a case where the defendant was over 21 years at the time of the crime and the victim was below 16 years of age

Registering as a sex offender

Most of the people convicted of sex crimes, not just in California but in other states, are required to register every year as sex offenders. While this may be seen as a good thing by victims of rape, it is not for people who have been falsely accused of a sex crime or those who have since reformed and are building better lives for themselves.

Good news for a person who has been accused of statutory rape is that offenders of this crime do not have to do this registration under the current California law as per section 290.28.

The Statute of Limitations on Statutory Rape in California

Sexual abuse is not an easy thing to deal with and so, many victims take a lot of time before they can summon the courage to take action against their abusers. For some, it can take a few months but for others, it may take years. It takes time to open up to another person about the abuse before one can take the necessary step to take the case in court. That is why such cases do not have a statute of limitations, to give victims time to summon the courage to report the abuse.

The statute of limitations, in this case, is the deadline set by law for pressing criminal charges or for filing a court proceeding for those that are seeking compensation. For victims of rape, a statute of limitation may not work well with them and it can be a hindrance for their quest for justice.

The state of California is among the states that have, in recent years, loosened up the laws governing this statute to accommodate serious crimes such as rape. Even though the statutes in place at the moment are a little complex and may seem confusing, it is important to know that victims of rape are allowed some time to garner some courage before they can take action against their abusers.

The reason there is a statute of limitations laws in the first place is in order to obtain balance as far as the safety of victims and perpetrators is concerned. It is believed that if people are allowed to report crimes whenever they want, even after so many months or years, the victims may be compromised or the evidence may be lost and sometimes memories fade, making it almost impossible for the prosecutor to prove the case even when the defendant is guilty of the offense.

But in California today, civil and criminal proceedings are not treated the same; each has different timelines. The statute of limitations deadlines has been set for all cases, to ensure that the case is tried with the best possible evidence.

However, statutory of limitations laws do not apply for rape cases, including statutory rape. Due to the seriousness of this crime, the state of California has vowed to take legal action against all rapists, no matter how much time has passed since the crime was committed.

What this means is that one can be accused of a sex crime as serious as statutory rape so many years after it happened. The problem is that in the world we are living today, young people are engaging in sexual activities every day and what this could mean is that statutory rape may be happening every day, only for the victims to come out later, after so many years, to seek justice.

What is worse is that in most cases, sex crimes are usually reported by people out of anger, revenge or even misunderstanding and most of the people who are accused of such crimes are innocent people, who did not even know that they were committing a crime when it happened.

Take for instance a 35-year-old senior executive in a prestigious company who is accused of statutory rape by his 34-year old high-school sweetheart. The most likely thing is that the two innocently engaged in sex when the defendant was 18 and the victim was 17, without even knowing the legal implication of what they were doing at that time.

There are at times when false accusations are made, leading to wrongful arrests and so many people who are innocent are prosecuted and later convicted of a crime that they did not commit. This explains why working with an experienced LA driminal defense attorney is a great idea if you want to win such a case.

Possible Legal Defenses against Statutory Rape Charges

It is now clear just how complicated the matter of statutory rape can get. It is very easy for an innocent person to be found guilty of such a serious offense if they do not have a proper defense against the charges. A smart LA criminal defense attorney will use all the available resources and connections in creating a strong defense in your favor. Fortunately, there are several defense strategies that your attorney can use to win such a case:

That you truly and rationally believed that the victim was over 18 years of age

If your defense attorney is able to prove that you reasonably believed, with all honesty, that the alleged victim was not a minor at the time you committed the crime, you may not get convicted of statutory rape. There is a general legal defense that is acceptable for most crimes, of a mistake of facts, which can work well in your favor in this case. If for instance there were statements that the alleged victim had made, to indicate that he/she was over the age of 18, they can be used in your favor. The general appearance of the victim at that time as well as the clothes they were wearing could have made you believe that he/she was not a minor.

Lastly, the place where the two of you met, for instance in an adult venue, could have led you to believe that he/she was an adult. If for instance, the two parties met in a bar, which requires one to present an ID to show that they are of legal age, and the victim used a fake ID to enter the bar. In such a case, the defendant may have been misled to believe that the victim was an adult and so, will not be guilty of the offense.

You are being falsely accused

False accusations are common with most sex crimes. In most cases, statutory rape cases rise from jealousy, anger or a desire for revenge or from protective parents who are not happy with the person their child is dating. In that case, it is very easy for a person to be falsely accused of such a crime.

If you are arrested and are sure you are not guilty of the offense, it is always good to remain quiet and allow your attorney to work the case out. Being charged with rape can have serious consequences in the life of the accused, which is why it is important to approach it with great caution before you incriminate yourself.

Statutory Rape and Related Offenses

There are several sex crimes in California that are closely related to statutory rape:

Section 288 of the California Penal Code- Lascivious or Lewd acts with a Minor

This is a crime that entails touching a part or parts of a child's body for the purpose of sexual gratification. The child, in this case, will be at the age of 14 years and below, or in some circumstances, 15 years. The crime is also called child molestation and is in most cases charged as a felony, sending the accused straight to state prison for a period of not more than eight years.

Rape- Section 261 of the California Penal Code

Violation of this law happens when one is found guilty of engaging in sexual acts with another person without their consent. This could be accompanied by the use of force, threats or fraud.