What Are the Penalties for Sexual Assault/Rape

A charge of sexual assault or rape is a very serious charge, which carries some very hefty penalties if convicted.  It is important to understand what those penalties are when you are thinking about how serious you want to be about fighting the charge.

Before I get into the penalties, however I want to address some of the emotions that a person may be going through if charged that may cause them to do the wrong thing.  When someone first finds out that they have been charged they are usually angry, frustrated, embarrassed and overwhelmed all at the same time.  These feelings cause the person to want to immediately go to the police and other people and give their version of what happened because they think it is the right thing to do. Wrong!  DO NOT GO TO THE POLICE OR TALK TO OTHER PEOPLE   about this charge without your attorney.  No matter what you say to the police or other authorities they will not believe you and will use everything that you say against you.  No matter how long you have known other people or how much you trust them, if you tell them anything you have just made them a witness. The first thing you should do before you do anything else is:

1. Get your emotions under control;
2.  Keep quite; and
3. Call an attorney.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about the potential penalties.  Sexual assault in most cases is a 2^nd degree felony.  In the state of Texas a 2^nd degree felony carries a possible punishment range of 2-20 years in prison and/or a fine not to exceed $10,000.  This offense can be elevated to a first degree felony if the alleged victim is under the age of 14 years old and was a person whom the alleged actor was prohibited from marrying, or purporting to marry or with whom the actor was prohibited from living under the appearance of being married. A first degree felony in Texas carries a possible range of punishment of 5 years to 99 years or life.  Of course probation of sentences is a possibility as well.

In addition to the possible penalties listed above there is also sex offender registration, which in most cases is lifetime.

There are many tools and defenses that can be used to fight this type charge.  The question is how serious are you about fighting them?  I take fighting them very seriously.  Call me.  Let’s talk about it.