Forcible Sexual Abuse

Forcible sexual abuse convictions carry serious legal consequences. To avoid harsh penalties, including extended imprisonment and registry as a sex offender, an experienced criminal defense attorney is mandatory.

Though the consequences of forcible sexual abuse convictions are severe, this offense requires the prosecution to show a defendant’s intent. Since this element is subjective, it allows room for interpretation; therefore working in favor of the defense attorney.

For this reason, it is important to hire an experienced defense attorney who knows her way around the law.

Utah Sex Crimes Information Center

• Forcible Sexual Abuse under Utah law
• Penalties for Forcible Sex Abuse
• Defense against Felony Charges

Forcible Sexual Abuse under Utah Law

Forcible sexual assault §76-5-404: According to Utah Code, a person is guilty of forcible sexual abuse when he or she:

Touches a victim 14 years of age or older in a sexual manner, or causes another to commit such acts with the actor or another; and possessed intent to cause substantial emotional or bodily pain to any person, or possesses intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person, without the consent of the other.

Penalties for Forcible Sexual Abuse

Forcible sexual abuse is a second-degree felony punishable by a minimum of one year and a maximum of 15 years imprisonment; or

If during the commission of the act, the defendant caused serious bodily injury to another, forcible sexual abuse is a first-degree felony punishable by a minimum of 15 years imprisonment and a maximum life imprisonment.

Defense against Felony Charges

Under some circumstances, the forcible sexual assault may result from a misunderstanding between two parties. An accuser may press charges for unintended contact, thus leading to a false accusation of a sexual offense.

For this reason, it is necessary to find an attorney who can examine all of the details for a specific case.

Child’s Memory In Child Rape, Aggravated Sexual Abuse Of A Child

Child Rape or Child Sex Case (Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child, Sodomy Upon a Child, Lewdness Involving a Child)–in these cases, a child sometimes “remembers” sexual abuse that happened years earlier at ages as young as 18 months.  You’ll see cases in which a 14 year old girl, for example, will remember being sexually abused by her father while he was changing her diapers at the age of 18 months.

There are 2 problems with these case–the “suddenly remembering” portion plus the ability to remember something to happened at such a tender age.  These child sex abuse cases require an memory expert.  Unfortunately, the good experts are very expensive and can be cost-prohibitive for many defendants.   A good memory expert can attack a “repressed memory” case as well as dispute the ability of a very young child being able to remember sexual touching at as an infant.

There was a case in another state, the McMartin case, wherein children were coming forward with horrible tales of abuse years after the fact, saying that they had recovered repressed memories of the abuse. Ultimately, it was discovered that the allegations were false.

Free Consultation with Criminal Defense Lawyer

To see if you qualify for an expungement and to get your prior criminal record expunged, please give our office a call for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you clean your criminal record permanently!