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Sex Crimes and Their Consequences

SEXUAL OFFENSE ATTORNEYS

OVER 100 YEARS COMBINED EXPERIENCE

Sex Crimes and Their Consequences

Any crime can hurt the individuals directly involved. Still, a sex crime tends to take on a different gravity given the terrible impact it can have on the victim.

 

The people who commit sex crimes can leave behind deeply traumatized victims in their wake. We need to recognize if we see a crime of that nature, we should act against it as soon as possible.

Throughout this article, we will discuss the different acts considered as sex crimes in the state of Arizona. We will also talk about the potential penalties those guilty of committing sex crimes may face.

Adultery

Infidelity is among the leading causes of divorce in the United States. Discovering evidence of infidelity can be a devastating revelation. It can erode the foundation of a family and cause the victim to lose trust in any potential partner moving forward.

Cheating on one’s spouse by having sexual relations with another person is considered a crime in Arizona.

According to state law, any married person who has sexual intercourse with anyone other than their spouse is guilty of adultery. Furthermore, an unmarried individual who has sexual intercourse with a married person can also be guilty of adultery.

An important thing to note about adultery is that the charges will not push forward until the spouse they cheated on files a complaint.

The act of adultery is a class 3 misdemeanor in Arizona. Class 3 misdemeanors come with a jail sentence that is no longer than thirty days and a fine no greater than $500.

Child Molestation

Molesting a child is one of the most heinous acts any person can commit. In Arizona law, they define child molestation as intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual conduct with a child under fifteen years old.

If the sexual contact only involves the female breast, that is a different crime.

Child molestation is a class 2 felony in Arizona and has severe penalties. The minimum prison sentence is ten years, while the maximum sentence is twenty-four years. Guilty parties will also pay a fine no greater than $150,000.

 

Anyone guilty of child molestation must also register as a sex offender.

Indecent Exposure

Exposing certain parts of the body carelessly when another person is present can constitute an indecent exposure charge. To be more specific, those who expose their genitals and anus can be found guilty of the mentioned offense.

Officials can charge women who expose the areolas and/or nipples of their breasts with this sex crime. It is important to note that an exception is made to this when a mother is breastfeeding.

Urinating in public can potentially lead to an indecent exposure charge. It is possible that the person urinating unwittingly exposed their body to someone nearby. There is an argument to be made that such an action constitutes indecent exposure.

A factor that can determine the severity of the penalties in indecent exposure cases is the age of the individual exposed.

If the victim of the crime is over fifteen years of age, the defendant will receive a class 1 misdemeanor. Violators may spend up to six months in jail and pay a fine no greater than $2500.

If the victim is under fifteen years of age, the charge will be a class 6 felony. The prison sentence for a class 6 felony ranges from six months to eighteen months. Defendants will also pay a fine no greater than $150,000.

Note that repeated charges of indecent exposure can lead to significantly longer prison sentences. It is possible that an offender may spend up to twelve years in prison for indecent exposure.

Public Sexual Indecency

People sometimes confuse indecent exposure and public sexual indecency with one another. Indecent exposure stems from exposing certain parts of the body. Public sexual indecency focuses more on committing sexual acts in public while another person is present.

The sexual acts in question include sexual conduct, oral sexual conduct, sexual intercourse, and an act of bestiality.

Public sexual indecency is a class 1 misdemeanor if the person exposed to the sexual acts is over fifteen years old. If the victim is younger, the charge will be a class 5 felony. Class 5 felonies carry a potential prison sentence ranging from nine months to two years.

Being charged with public sexual indecency more than once will also lead to a longer prison sentence.

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse accounts for a wide variety of crimes. The definition of sexual abuse can also change depending on the age of the victim.

Let us focus first on the definition of sexual abuse that concerns two adults.

According to Arizona law, anyone who intentionally or knowingly engages in sexual contact with another adult without that person’s consent is guilty of sexual abuse. Committing sexual abuse against another adult is a class 5 felony.

Sexual Abuse Involving Minors

Sexual abuse varies quite a bit when a minor is involved.

Earlier, it was noted that engaging in sexual contact with a person under fifteen years of age constitutes child molestation, but not if the contact is limited to the female breast. Sexual abuse is the crime that accounts for sexual contact limited to the female breast of minors under fifteen years of age.

In cases where one party is an adult and the other is fifteen to eighteen years old, they can still receive a sexual abuse charge. That holds true, whether the victim consented to the act if the defendant is a person in a position of trust.

Arizona law defines people in a “position of trust” as the minor’s parents, adoptive parents, stepparents, foster parents, legal guardians, teachers, coaches, priests, or clergymen. An individual committed to a romantic/sexual relationship with the minor’s parent, adoptive parent, stepparent, foster parent, or legal guardian is a person in a “position of trust.”

Sexual abuses involving minors are class 3 felonies. The prison sentence for a class 3 felony ranges from two and a half years to seven years. Violators must also pay a fine and register as sex offenders.

Sexual Assault

The depraved act of sexual assault is a horrendous crime in Arizona. Sexual assault is when one person intentionally engages in sexual intercourse or oral contact with another person who has not consented to the act.

Sexual assault is a class 2 felony, but it carries different penalties compared to the other crimes classified as such.

The minimum penalty for sexual assault is five years and three months in prison. The maximum prison sentence goes up to fourteen years. Repeat offenders can also spend up to twenty-eight years in prison due to their crimes.

The penalties are even harsher for those found guilty of sexually assaulting a child under twelve years of age.

A person who sexually assaulted a minor can receive life in prison. They are also not eligible to be pardoned, released, or have their sentence suspended until they have served thirty-five years in confinement. The state also requires sex offenders to register.

Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

The exploitation of children is another form of abuse. The exploitation can become sexual depending on what actions the children perform.

Officials can charge any person who records or photographs a minor engaging in sexual conduct with sexual exploitation of a minor. Even those who develop or duplicate the exploitative content in question can receive the same charge.

Sexual exploitation of a minor is not limited merely to producing or duplicating the exploitative content. Officials can also charge individuals if they distribute, transport, sell, purchase, or merely possess the graphic images and/or videos.

The crime is a class 2 felony in Arizona but has different penalties compared to other crimes in that group.

Upon being charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, the guilty party could face ten to twenty-four years in prison. Any person who commits this crime must also register as a sex offender.

Sexual Extortion

Morally corrupt individuals will resort to underhanded means to get what they want. They are not above extorting others to satisfy their sexual desires. Anyone who resorts to that action is guilty of sexual extortion.

The first part of sexual extortion involves making a threat of some kind.

Typically, the threat comes in the form of the defendant saying they will tarnish their target’s reputation or damage their property. In some cases, the guilty party will attempt to extort the other party by threatening to release content depicting the other person performing acts of a sexual nature.

The other part is related to what the guilty party wishes to receive from their target. They may ask the party to engage in sexual acts together.

They may also ask for sexually explicit photos and/or videos from the other person.

Sexual extortion is a class 3 felony if the parties involved are adults. If the party is under fifteen years of age, the crime is a class 2 felony. An individual convicted of sexual extortion of a minor could spend five to 15 years in prison.

Unlawful Disclosure of Images Depicting States of Nudity or Specific Sexual Activities

Releasing images featuring a person who is naked and/or performing some kind of sexual act can be a crime in the state of Arizona. The act of releasing those images becomes a crime when they meet certain conditions.

First, the person in the image must be identifiable. They may be identifiable through their likeness or other identifying details present in the picture.

Next, the person in the images must also have a reasonable expectation of privacy. If the image went to another person with the clear intent to be seen privately, it should not be released. The image taken by an electronic device like a smartphone does not change that.

Lastly, releasing the image becomes a crime if the person who did it had the intention of harming, harassing, threatening, or coercing the person in the picture.

As soon as it meets those conditions, the authorities can charge the person accused of disclosing the image with a crime. Releasing the images is typically a class 5 felony, but it becomes a class 4 felony if they use an electronic for the images.

One more thing to note here is that authorities can still charge a person with a crime even if they did not release the images. The mere act of threatening to release those pictures is a class 1 misdemeanor.

Voyeurism

Last up is the sex crime known as voyeurism.

Voyeurism involves knowingly invading another person’s privacy without their knowledge to satisfy their sexual desires.

Invading their privacy in this context means photographing or recording them when they were not expecting to be photographed or recorded. The person being recorded or photographed must also be nude or partially nude, engaged in a sexual act, or urinating or defecating.

If the person in the picture or video also had their buttocks, genitalia, or their breasts exposed to the camera, that is also an act of voyeurism. Distributing the content produced from an act of voyeurism is a crime.

Voyeurism is a class 5 felony in Arizona. However, if the person in the photos and videos is recognizable, the crime elevates to a class 4 felony.

If you or someone you know has been the victim of a sex crime, you must seek justice right away. Reach out to us at the Schill Law Group and allow us to fight for justice in your case.

Fighting False Rape Accusations

Fighting False Rape Accusations

CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS

OVER 100 YEARS COMBINED EXPERIENCE

Fighting False Rape Accusations

Authorities must take rape accusations seriously. They must hear the charges and fully punish those guilty of harming women. Still, there are instances where a person may be in a tough spot due to false rape accusations against them.

As a society, we must not dismiss credible rape allegations, but we cannot allow false accusations to go unchallenged.

False rape accusations can be damaging in more ways than one. Make sure that the truth is revealed by finding out how you can combat false charges made against you. Please feel free to continue with the article to find out more about this essential topic.

How Arizona Law Defines Rape

The state of Arizona has various laws that focus on sex crimes. They vary in terms of the specific actions committed by the suspect. Let’s discuss them in greater detail below.

Sexual Assault

The first type of sex crime is sexual assault. Per Arizona law, sexual assault occurs when a person intentionally engages in oral sexual contact or sexual intercourse with another person who did not provide consent.

Sexual Conduct with a Minor

Arizona law also accounts for sexual conduct with a minor. Sexual conduct with a minor takes place when an individual intentionally engages in oral sexual contact or sexual intercourse with another person who is under eighteen years of age.

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse is another sex crime in Arizona. In cases of sexual abuse, the victim accuses the suspect of intentionally engaging in sexual contact. The case becomes a form of sexual abuse because the woman either did not provide consent or was under fifteen years of age at the time.


The Penalties for Committing Rape in Arizona

Crimes of a sexual nature are taken seriously in Arizona. They come with corresponding penalties that can lead to long prison sentences. Find out more about what those penalties are in this section of the article.

Penalties for Sexual Assault

Sexual assault is considered a class 2 felony in the state of Arizona. The minimum sentence for a class 2 felony in the state is four years in prison. The standard sentence is five years, while the maximum is ten years.

You should know that the length of the prison sentence for a sexual assault charge can change depending on certain circumstances. For instance, if the defendant in question is guilty of using certain chemicals prior to the assault, the minimum sentence becomes five years and four months; the standard sentence is seven years, while the maximum sentence goes up to fourteen years.

Individuals who injured their victim during the assault may receive life in prison with no possibility of parole.

Penalties for Sexual Conduct with a Minor

The age of the victim plays a significant part in determining what penalties a defendant may face after they are convicted of engaging in sexual conduct with a minor.

If the victim is 12 years old or younger, the suspect can be sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. If the victim is twelve years old or younger, the suspect can receive life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. If the victim is above twelve years of age but not yet fifteen years old, the crime will be considered a class 2 felony, and the penalties mentioned previously will apply.

In a case where the victim is at least fifteen years of age, the crime will be considered a class 6 felony. The minimum penalty for a class 6 felony is six months in prison. The standard sentence is one year in prison and the maximum sentence is eighteen months in prison.

Penalties for Sexual Abuse

Age again plays a role in determining which penalties they impose upon those guilty of committing sexual abuse.

If the victim in the case is under fifteen years old, the crime will be a class 3 felony. Class 3 felonies come with a minimum sentence of two and a half years in prison, a standard sentence of three and a half years, and a maximum sentence of seven years.

Now, if the victim is fifteen or older, the crime will be considered a class 5 felony. Individuals charged will face a minimum sentence of nine months in prison. The standard sentence is eighteen months in prison, and the maximum sentence is two years.

The Other Penalties for Committing Sexual Crimes

Imprisonment is the main penalty that’s imposed upon those who commit the crime of rape, but that’s not the only thing.

Individuals found guilty of rape also become alienated from their friends, family members, and their community. They are treated as pariahs and saddled with a tarnished reputation they cannot shed. Finding work after you leave prison may also prove to be a nearly impossible undertaking if authorities convicted you of committing rape previously.

To be clear, individuals who are guilty of rape deserve to experience the consequences of their actions. The experience of being raped can have a life-long impact on their victim. The actions of guilty parties should not be easily forgotten.

Why Do People Make False Rape Accusations?

Now that we know more about how the state of Arizona defines rape and punishes those found guilty of the crime, let’s move to the topic of false rape accusations. To get started, let’s talk more about why people make those bogus accusations in the first place.

An Attempt to Gain an Advantage during Divorce Proceedings

It’s no secret that some marriages end badly. Even if the two sides have already agreed that divorce is necessary, that doesn’t mean the process itself will be orderly. If anything, tensions may rise during the divorce proceedings, and the entire ordeal may become more acrimonious.

To gain an edge during the increasingly more contentious divorce proceedings, one of the parties may allege that they were raped. Such a claim can completely shake up the proceedings and alter how it will ultimately go. Even if things were looking favorable for you at one point, that can flip quickly if your former spouse accuses you of rape.

With the false rape accusations now out there, your former spouse may gain more leverage. Your former partner may receive full custody of your children, and you may need to pay a substantial amount of spousal support while you deal with the fallout of the bogus allegations.

An Attempt to Extort Money

Money can motivate some people to do some underhanded things. In desperate times, people may even resort to extortion to keep their heads above water.

If you’re a successful entrepreneur in your community, you could end up being a target of an extortion attempt. An employee of yours may falsely accuse you of rape to squeeze money out of you.

An Attempt to Save Face

Picture this scenario: You entered a romantic relationship with another person, not knowing that the person in question was married. After some time, you discovered your partner’s cheating ways. Suddenly, your partner is now accusing you of rape to save their reputation and potentially salvage their marriage.

That would be a tough spot for you to be in, and it’s sadly not an impossible scenario. Getting divorced could be damaging to someone financially, and they may want to preserve their marriage any way they can, even if that means ruining an innocent person’s life in the process.

A Desire to Exact Revenge

You don’t need to be in the middle of divorce proceedings to receive a false rape charge. A jilted lover who is not happy with the end of a relationship may seek retaliation by lobbing false accusations against you.

Imagining such a scenario is difficult for many, but it can happen. The aftermath of a breakup can sometimes be difficult for individuals to deal with. Because of that, they resort to doing anything they can to hurt the person they once loved.

How to Disprove False Rape Accusations

Dealing with false rape accusations can be the most stressful experience of your life. However, you cannot afford to roll over. You must fight for your innocence and your reputation.

For this part of the article, we’ll focus on the things you must do to disprove the false rape allegations against you.

Hire a Lawyer Immediately

Before you do anything else in your attempt to disprove the false rape allegations that have come your way, you must first hire a lawyer. Understand that people will scrutinize all your actions after someone accuses you of raping them. You cannot afford to make a misstep that will make you look guilty.

Hire a lawyer right away and begin consulting with them. Talk to your lawyer before making any move to ensure that you aren’t doing something that could jeopardize your freedom.

Gather as Much Evidence as You Can

Following a sexual encounter with another person, that individual in question may attempt to take advantage of you by threatening to accuse you of rape. Even if it was consensual, your accuser may change their tune after the fact to get you to pay up.

One of the best things you can do in that scenario is to collect as much evidence as you can. Keep any messages – texts, emails, messages sent via apps – sent to you by your accuser, and don’t delete them. Preserve them to show that what happened between the two of you was consensual.

Witness testimony can also prove helpful to you. If there are people who saw the two of you together prior to what happened, they can provide context for what happened that day.

Your accuser will have a hard time coming up with physical evidence or even witness testimony to prove that you raped them if the allegations they’re making are all lies. On the other hand, you should gather a collection of evidence that you can use in court.

Minimize Contact and Communication with Your Accuser

Being on the receiving end of false rape allegations can be a destabilizing experience for anyone. While in that vulnerable state, your accuser may attempt to take advantage of you. They may try to get you to say or do things that could make you appear hostile towards them.

Obviously, it would be understandable if you are angry at the person making false accusations against you, but you cannot fall for their trap. One of the worst things you can do at that point is to give in to them and provide them with ammunition they can use against you during the trial.

The best thing you can do once you’ve decided to fight the false rape accusations is to cut off all contact with your accuser.

If cutting off contact is impossible because they’re your former spouse and the two of you are in the middle of divorce proceedings, look to minimize your interactions instead. In a situation such as that, ensure that all your communications are in writing, and feel free to bring other people along to bear witness to your interactions.

Stand Firm and Let the Facts Speak for Themselves

False rape accusations tend to fall apart under the slightest bit of scrutiny because they hold no substance whatsoever. At the end of the day, your accuser will still need to prove that you did something wrong, and they will have a hard time pulling that off with no evidence to work with.

Listen to your lawyer and remain firm at this time. Don’t forget that the facts of the case are on your side. As long as the facts are allowed to determine the case, you have nothing to fear.

Conclusion

False rape accusations are no joke. Fail to take them seriously, and you could end up in prison with a reputation in tatters.

Combat false rape accusations that may come your way by partnering with us at the Schill Law Group. Contact us today, and let’s work together on your defense against those baseless accusations.

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