Required

What Different Sex Crimes Can An Individual be Charged With in Virginia?

There are numerous sex crimes that a person can be charged with in Virginia. They’re all spelled out in the code and have been developed over numerous years to try to encompass all the types of criminal behavior involving sexual offenses that you can possibly think of.

Rape Offenses

One of the most serious and most commonly charged sex offenses is Rape.  A rape occurs when the defendant had sexual intercourse with another person against that person’s will and without their consent. Forcible sodomy is another commonly charged sexual offense and it occurs when the defendant has penetrated a sexual organ of another person that was against that person’s will and that was by force, threat, or intimidation. Another charge is object sexual penetration which occurs when a defendant penetrates a female sexual organ or anus with an inanimate or animate object and that the penetration was against the other person’s will, and the penetration was accomplished by force, threat, intimidation over against another person.

Sexual battery occurs when the defendant sexually abuses another person and that the abuse was  against the other person’s will and that was by force, threat, intimidation, or ruse. Aggravated sexual battery occurs when the defendant sexually abuses another person against that person’s will;  that it was by force, threat, or intimidation and that the defendant caused serious bodily or mental injury to the other person or threatened to use a dangerous weapon.

Sex Crimes Involving Minors

Then, you get into crimes involving minors. So a lot of the offenses that I just mentioned have harsher punishments and different elements when the person is under a certain age.For example, forcible sodomy, if it is a child under 13 that the defendant engaged in some kind of sex act with or caused a child to engage in that act with another person,  and the child was less than 13 years of age at the time, there’s a special charge for forcible sodomy of a minor that is punished more harshly than just forcible sodomy. When a defendant has sexual intercourse with or caused a child to engage in sexual intercourse with another person, and at the time of the act the child was under 13 there is a special charge with heightened punishment for Rape of a Minor.  If the offender was over 18 years of age in a rape situation of someone under 13, then the punishment is a mandatory minimum of life in jail.

For carnal knowledge of a child by an adult, the defendant must have engaged in specific sex act with another person and the defendant must have been at least 18, but the child was between 13 years but under 15 years of age. That too is obviously a serious offense.

Contact Us
Free Consultation