According to KTLA, recently, a 30-year-old man in Lake Forest was charged with a series of sexual assaults and rapes involving women he met on a dating website. The man was arrested at LAX as he was returning to California from India.
The charges that the man is facing include the following:
- Two counts of rape by force
- One count of false imprisonment affected by deceit, fraud, menace, or violence
- One count of attempted kidnapping to commit rape
- Three counts of sexual penetration by foreign object and force
- One count of forced oral copulation
- One count of assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense
- One count of sexual battery
If the man is convicted for all the charges he is facing, he could be sentenced to serve over 137 years in prison.
Punishments for a Rape Conviction in California
The punishments for a rape conviction in California are severe. Rape is considered a felony offense in California. The penalties for a rape conviction depend on the rape victim’s age:
- Under 14 years old – Up to 11 years in prison and lifetime sex offender registration.
- 14 to 17 years old – Up to 13 years in prison and lifetime sex offender registration.
- 18 years old or older – Up to 8 years in prison and 20 years of sex offender registration or lifetime sex offender registration (depending on the details of the case)
If a rape victim suffered great bodily injury during the assault, judges can add an additional 3 to 5 years to a convicted rapist’s sentence.
Defenses for Rape Charges in California
There are three main defense strategies for those who have been charged with rape in California:
- False accusation – The alleged victim falsely claimed that the accused person raped them. This can happen for a variety of reasons, including revenge, jealousy, or anger.
- No sex – None of the acts that the accused person committed with the alleged victim can be considered sexual intercourse.
- Consent – The accused person reasonably and actually believed that the alleged victim consented to intercourse.
A rape charge is extremely serious. If you have been charged with rape, you need to act quickly. You need an experienced criminal defense attorney on your side. An experienced criminal defense lawyer understands how these laws work, knows the defense strategies that can help you, and has a history of helping clients get the charges against them reduced or dismissed.
Speak with Our Experienced Sex Crimes Defense Lawyers in Santa Barbara About Your Situation for Free Today
At Appel & Morse, our sex crimes defense attorneys have more than 40 years of combined legal experience. We have helped several clients fight back against criminal accusations, including helping them get their charges reduced or dismissed.
For more information about how we’ve helped clients reach the most favorable outcomes possible for their situations, read our clients’ testimonials.
Call us at (805) 467-6060 or contact us online today for a free, no-obligation consultation with our experienced sex crimes defense lawyers in Santa Barbara.