The sexual abuse of the preschoolers
A 17 years old teen was sentenced to not less than three and a half years jail term by a Newcastle court for sexually assaulting a minor who is now five years in a daycare center. (The minor was three years old by then). The offender was also to be registered in the sex offenders register. 1
What does the law say about sex offenses?
The United State Code, Title 18, Part One Chapter 109A in line sexual assault on children says that anyone that knowingly engages in sexual contact with a person that younger than 12 years, or substantially impairs the ability of the victim to control the conduct may be imprisoned for any number of years or life, fined or both. 2
This code also applies to anyone that engages in sexual contact with someone that is younger than 16 years and is more than four years younger than the offender is. In the second case, the sex offender will be imprisoned for not less than 30 years or life. If the offender has been found guilty of any other sex related crime whether at the state level or the federal level, he or she will be sentenced to life unless a death penalty is imposed. 4
The term sexual assault in layman’s language is always thought to be an attack on another person which is sexual in nature. The legal definition of the same may be different in one state or another. In many states, sexual assault is synonymous to rape.
What comprises of sexual assault
- Sexual penetration and rape – This is called rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, or criminal sexual penetration. It involves any sexual penetration or sodomy without consent.
- Criminal sexual contact and sexual battery – In many states, criminal sexual contact includes the sexual contact that does not include penetration, oral sex, or sodomy but occurs without the other person’s consent. Sexual battery involves touching of intimate parts of the body without consent for the purposes of degrading or sexual arousal. 3 4
Consent
Sexual conduct is criminal if not consented to because the offender does it against the will of the victim. When it comes to sex with a minor, some states criminalize sexual contact if the offender is older than the victim is with a given number of years. It also criminalizes sexual contact between a person in authority and somebody under the authority.
In the pre-school setting, the minor is incapable of consenting to sex due to developmental incapacity. Thus, any form of sexual contact with the minors is liable to penalties above. 3 4
References
1 http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/cops_courts/teen-will-go-to-prison-in-day-care-sex-assault/article_563dcfd8-43b2-5261-8861-ff9c26e53567.html
2 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/920#
3 http://www.fris.org/Laws/FedallLaws.html
4 http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/federal/sexual-assault.htm