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Rape, Sexual Assault,
Sexual Battery, Aggravated Sexual Battery,
Statutory Rape, Child Molestation
Child
Molestation - O.C.G.A. 16-6-4
In order
to prove child molestation, the state must prove that the accused
performed an immoral or indecent act to or in presence of any
child under 16 with intent to arouse the sexual desires of either
the child or the person.
Punishment:
Felony; 5 to 20 years in prison for first conviction, life
or 10 to 20 years in prison for second conviction. On a first
conviction, the offender may get probation and counseling
instead of prison sentence.
Aggravated
Child Molestation – When and act of child molestation
physically injures the child or involves sodomy, it is considered
to be aggravated child molestation.
Punishment:
Felony, 10 to 30 years in prison.
Rape
- O.C.G.A. 16-6-1
Under
Georgia law, rape is defined as carnal knowledge of a female (any
penetration of the female sex organ by the male sex organ) forcibly
and against her will. Therefore, the state must prove three things:
carnal knowledge, force, and lack of consent. Rape is one of the
few gender-specific crimes in the Georgia criminal code. Based
on the language of the statute, it can only be committed by a
man against a woman.
Punishment:
Felony punishable by death, life or 10-20 years in prison.
Sexual
Assault - O.C.G.A. 16-6-5.1
In Georgia,
sexual assault applies only to a sex crime committed against a
victim who is in custodial care. Other sex crimes are punished
as sexual battery, child molestation or rape. Sexual assault occurs
when a person with supervisory or disciplinary authority over
the victim engages in sexual contact with that person who is either
in the custody of the law or is a patient in a hospital or other
institution.
Punishment:
Felony, 1 to 3 years in prison.
Sexual
Battery - O.C.G.A. 16-6-22.1
In Georgia
sexual battery is a lesser degree of rape. To be convicted of
sexual battery, actual penetration need not occur. Instead, sexual
battery requires that the defendant intentionally make physical
contact with the intimate parts of the body of another person
without consent. Unlike rape, sexual battery is not gender-specific.
Thus, sexual battery can be committed against either a male or
a female.
Punishment:
High and aggravated misdemeanor.
Aggravated
Sexual Battery - O.C.G.A. 16-6-22.2
Under
Georgia law, aggravated sexual battery occurs when someone
intentionally penetrates with a foreign object the sexual
organ or anus of another without consent. Note that this crime
is also gender-neutral, so a male may commit aggravated sexual
battery on another male. The term "foreign object"
is defined as anything other than the sexual organ of a person.
Punishment:
Felony, 10 to 20 years in prison.
Statutory
Rape - O.C.G.A. 16-6-3
Designed
to protect children from sexual deviance, the statutory rape law
makes it a crime to engage in sexual intercourse with any person
under the age of 16 who is not a spouse. In order to get a conviction
the state must show only that the defendant had sex with a person
under 16; it is unnecessary to prove either force or lack of consent.
This is based on the presumption that a person under 16 is legally
incapable of consenting to intercourse. Additionally, one may
be convicted of statutory rape even if he or she reasonably believed
that the victim was over 16. Finally, a conviction for statutory
rape may not rest on the unsupported testimony of the victim.
There must be some kind of corroborative evidence that verifies
the victim’s allegations.
Punishment:
Typically, statutory rape is considered a felony carrying
a 1 to 20 year jail sentence. But, if the victim is 14 or
15 at the time of the act, and the defendant is no more than
3 years older, it is a misdemeanor.
Sodomy;
Aggravated Sodomy O.C.G.A. 16-6-2
Georgia’s
sodomy law makes it a crime to engage in an oral or anal sexual
act. However, in its recent decision Powell v. State,
270 Ga. 327, 510 S.E.2d 18 (1999), the Georgia Supreme Court determined
that if such an act occurs in a private home, without force, between
two people legally capable of consenting, the government may not
make it a crime. Therefore, a person may still be charged and
convicted of sodomy if the act occurs in a public place. If an
act of sodomy is non-consensual or involves force, then the offender
can still be convicted of aggravated sodomy.
Punishment:
For a sodomy conviction, a defendant may be sentenced to 1
to 20 years in prison. For aggravated sodomy, the punishment
is 10 to 20 years or life in prison.
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William C. Head, Senior Partner
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