Sexual battery is one of the most serious offenses a criminal lawyer can handle for a client for two reasons. First, the penalties for a sexual battery conviction are very severe. Second, being accused or convicted of a sexual battery carries tremendous social stigma and may even require registration as a sexual offender.
From an evidentiary perspective, sexual battery offenses are very similar to simple battery cases because they come down the basic allegation of an unwanted, non-consensual, illegal physical contact. The fact that such offenses involve sexuality makes them more severe, but at their core battery cases are all the same.
Thus, as a criminal defense lawyer who handles sexual battery cases, my attention is first directed to the nature and type of unwanted, non-consensual, illegal physical contact being alleged.
To this end, one must understand that there are different types of sexual battery cases, depending on the specific facts and allegations. These include the following:
- Sexual Battery – Victim Less Than 12 Years of Age
- Sexual Battery – Victim 12 Years of Age or Older
- Sexual Battery – Victim 12 Years of Age or Older, Use of a Deadly Weapon or Great Physical Force
- Sexual Battery – Victim 12 Years of Age or Older, Specified Circumstances Pursuant to Statute
- Sexual Battery – Victim 12 Years or Older But Under 18 Years, By Person in Familial or Custodial Authority
- Solicitation of Child Under 18 Years of Age to Engage in an Act that Constitutes Sexual Battery by Person in Familial or Custodial Authority
Sexual Battery – Victim Less than 12 Years of Age
Sexual battery on a victim less than 12 years old, the prosecution must prove the following:
- That the victim of the sexual battery was less than 12 years old.
- That the defendant committed a sex act either with/upon the victim which involved the defendant’s sex organs having union or penetration with the anus, vagina, or mouth of the victim, or
- That the defendant committed a sex act on the victim during which an object was used to penetrate the anus or vagina of the victim, or
- That the defendant injured the sex organ(s) of the victim during an attempted sex act with/upon the victim which would have included the penetration/union of the victim’s anus, vagina, or mouth with the sex organs of the defendant, or
- That the defendant injured the sex organ(s) of the victim during an attempted sex act with/upon the victim which would have included the penetration/union of the defendant’s anus, vagina, or mouth with the sex organs of the victim, or
- That the defendant injured the sex organ(s) of the victim during an attempted sex act upon the victim, which included the penetration of this victim’s anus or vagina with an object.
- That the defendant committed a sex act on the victim during which an object was used to penetrate the anus or vagina of the victim, or
- That the defendant was 18 years or older and the victim was less than 18 years old at the time of the offense.
As is the case with any other criminal offense, the prosecution must prove all three legal elements beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, the job of the criminal defense lawyer is to attack the prosecution’s case and present any and all reasonable doubt to the jury.
According to the jury instructions that will be read at the end of a trial for sexual battery, the term “union” means “contact.” The jury instructions also explain that any act done for a “bona fide medical purpose” is not considered a sexual battery. As one can expect, this does not mean doctors have a license to commit sexual battery on their patients. In other words, the only conduct accepted is actual medical treatment, such as a bona fide gynecological or rectal examination.
In the coming sections we will be discussing the legal elements that the prosecution must prove in the other types of sexual battery offenses.