Wilton Sexual Assault Lawyer
After being charged with sexual assault, it may be difficult to contest the charges effectively without help from a Wilton sexual assault lawyer. An experienced sex crimes attorney could help you better understand the exact implications of your particular charges and how you could potentially challenge the prosecution’s case against you.
How Is Rape Classified as a Criminal Offense?
While Connecticut state law used to classify rape as a distinct criminal offense, it has since folded several forms of unlawful sexual contact into the umbrella term of “sexual assault”. There are four degrees of sexual assault with fourth being the least serious and first being the most. The factors that affect the classification include the age of the victim, whether sexual contact or sexual intercourse was involved, and whether or not force was used or threatened.
What Are The Penalties For Sexual Assault?
The crime of forcing a person over the age of 16 to engage in sexual intercourse is now defined as sexual assault in the first degree under Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-70, and classified under the same statute as a Class B felony.
In the same vein, C.G.S. § 53a-71 defines sexual assault in the second degree as any form of sexual intercourse that does not involve the use of force, but to which one party does not or cannot consent. Under this statute, it is a class C felony for someone to engage in intercourse with a person with a physical or mental impairment, with a person over whom they have supervisory or disciplinary authority, or with a student or student-athlete whom the perpetrator instructs.
Both statutes allow for statutory rape—defined as sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16—to be classified as one degree of severity higher than the same offense against an adult, meaning the aforementioned offenses would respectively be class A and class B felonies. Assistance from a Wilton sexual assault attorney may be especially crucial to challenging allegations of this type of behavior and the methods of investigation.
What Are Other Forms of Sexual Assault in Wilton?
While it is not punished as severely as nonconsensual sexual intercourse, nonconsensual sexual contact with another individual is still usually considered a felony offense in Connecticut. C.G.S. § 53-72a defines third-degree sexual assault—nonconsensual sexual contact through the use of force—as either a class D felony or a class C felony depending on the age of the alleged victim. Fourth-degree sexual assault—which entails nonconsensual sexual contact under the same conditions as second-degree sexual assault—can be a class A misdemeanor or class D felony based on the same factor, as per C.G.S. § 53a-73a.
Other circumstances, such as repeated offenses or the victim suffering serious injury, could result in aggravated sexual assault charges, which can be punished even more severely than other forms of sexual assault. An experienced sexual assault defense lawyer in Wilton could offer further clarification about how different offenses may be prosecuted in a particular court.
Work with a Wilton Sexual Assault Attorney Today
With guidance and support from an experienced Wilton sexual assault lawyer, you could put yourself in a much better position to defend your best interests in the wake of such a serious allegation. Click this link to head over to avvo.com to see certified 5-star reviews from our past clients. Call today to learn more about the legal options available in your circumstances.