Rape Defense Attorney in Riverside
Facing Rape Charges? Talk to a Riverside Defense Lawyer
Rape is a criminal offense that involves forced or nonconsensual intercourse. Rape may be committed by threats, force or by deceiving the victim. Although rape is a sex crime in itself, there are also offenses closely related to this offense: statutory rape, spousal rape and date rape. This is generally considered one of the most serious types of sex offenses that a person may be accused of committing.
Contact a Riverside sex crime lawyer at our law offices if you would like to undergo a confidential consultation regarding your case. Our firm handles rape charges for clients throughout Riverside and the surrounding areas, and we will be happy to discuss your rights and legal options with you.
Elements of a Rape Charge
For a person to be charged with rape, sexual intercourse must have been performed under any of the following circumstances:
- By force, violence, duress, menace, or by instilling a real fear of bodily harm in the victim;
- By fear of retaliation against the victim or another person;
- By fraud, such as by fraudulently convincing the victim that the act serves a bona fide medical purpose;
- With a person who is too intoxicated to consent or who is unconscious; or
- With a person who is mentally or physically disabled and therefore cannot consent, when the defendant knows or should have reasonably known this.
Any amount of penetration, even very slight, is enough to constitute rape in any of the above circumstances.
Depending on the particular nature of and circumstances surrounding the offense, rape may be punished by 3, 6 or 8 years in prison. An additional term of imprisonment of 3 to 5 years may apply if the alleged victim was seriously injured. The defendant may also face a fine of up to $10,000, a strike on his or her criminal record and mandatory sex offender registration for life.
Contact a Riverside Rape Defense Lawyer at our law offices to see how we can help you challenge your rape charges in or around the Riverside area. |