In Massachusetts, being charged with a sex crime is a serious matter and should be treated as such from the moment you are charged or you feel you are the target of an investigation. If convicted, you could face a lengthy term of incarceration, be required to register as a sex offender for life, and have to live with the social stigma attached to those who have been labeled a “sexual predator.” Like all criminal charges, sex offense charges can be resolved by way of a plea agreement. Unfortunately, prosecutors are usually resistant to allowing those accused of sex offenses to resolve cases by guilty pleas to non-sex offenses. Often, trying the case before a jury offers to the only chance of avoiding a sex offense conviction. But, more than just about any other type of criminal charge, a defendant must prevail at trial; judges tend to bring the hammer down on those convicted of sex offenses by juries.
If you have been charged with sexual assault, consent may be a viable defense – but only if the alleged victim is 16 years of age or older. If you are, however, charged with statutory rape, consent is not a viable defense option. In Massachusetts, an individual who has not yet attained 16 years of age is considered incapable of consenting to sexual relations.
Sexual assault crimes can be broken down into two basic categories – indecent assault and battery and rape. Indecent assault involves physical contact of a sexual nature with another person without consent. Rape is “the penetration of any bodily orifice by any part of the body, or by an object, performed against the victim’s will, without consent, and with the threat of or actual use of force.” In most sex assault/rape trials, the issue is not identity, but consent.
Many people wrongly believe that these charges are nearly impossible for prosecutors to prove because they are “he said/she said” cases, as if an allegation is automatically neutralized by a denial. “Consent” cases are not that simple. The prosecutor will always – or close to always – call the alleged victim to the stand and lead her through an emotional, often tearful, recounting of the defendant’s aggressiveness, hostility, and violence. A defendant who takes the stand can usually only offer a competing, and much more measured, depiction of the encounter. On cross-examination, however, the prosecutor will likely destroy him. For that reason, as well as others, the defense attorney will not call the defendant to the stand. There is, therefore, no “he said.” The entire case, indeed the defendant’s very freedom, depends on the defense lawyer’s cross-examination skills. A highly skilled, well-prepared defense lawyer may be able to elicit enough concessions from a begrudging complainant or develop enough inconsistencies in her testimony to undermine her credibility before the jury.
If you are being investigated for a sex crime, or have already been charged with one, seek the advice and assistance of an experienced Massachusetts criminal defense attorney.
- Karen Read
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