If you are charged with a sex crime in Fairfax, the following is information you should know regarding potential penalties you may face and how a Fairfax sex crimes lawyer can help. Call today to schedule your free consultation and begin building your defense.
Sex crimes are punished in many different ways depending on the charge, but in general, are taken very seriously by the courts and prosecutors. With that said, most sex crimes are felonies, with the exception of sexual battery, which is a class 1 misdemeanor, almost all other sex crimes are felonies.
Sexual battery, the lone misdemeanor, occurs when a person sexually abuses another person and that abuse was done against their will and by force, threat, intimidation, or rouse. The legal definition of sexual abuse is “an act committed with the intent to sexually molest, arouse or gratify any person where the defendant intentionally touched the complaining witnesses’ intimate parts or material directly covering those parts”.
That is a class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to a $2500 fine and 12 months in jail in addition to any other conditions that the court chooses to impose such as sexual abuse treatment, substance abuse counseling or no contact with the victim.
That’s the least serious offense for a sexual crime in Virginia code. Most sexual offenses are felony offenses and in addition to having a felony on your record, felony offenses are punishable by more than a year in jail. That’s what defines a felony.
If you’ve been charged with rape, forcible sodomy or object sexual penetration, those charges are all punished by a minimum of five years in jail and a maximum of life in prison. Obviously, it’s a very serious offense with very serious effects on your life. Rape of a child under 13 years of age by someone who was over 18 at the time is punishable only by life in jail.
In addition to doing multiple years in jail, the person convicted of any felony sex offense will face fines of up to $2500, supervised felony probation for many years, sexual offender treatment meaning the public declaration that the person is a sexual offender and mandatory treatment and counseling. Usually, a common provision of any sex crime is that you have no contact with the victim of the crime. Additionally, you will be placed on the sex offender registry.
Additionally, there’s also the stigma that goes on with being convicted of a sex offense. So the punishments are harsh for sexual offenses. They are often felonies, they are often punished by numerous years in jail and there are numerous collateral consequences that can arise from a conviction.