Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor In Dayton
Sexual conduct with a minor, or statutory rape, is a serious charge in Ohio. If convicted, you may be sentenced to prison for years and placed on the Ohio sex offender registry. Even if untrue, statutory rape charges have a serious stigma attached, which can follow you for the rest of your life. If you have become involved in a statutory rape investigation or have been arrested for statutory rape, it is important that you hire a lawyer to protect you and your interests.
Hiring A Dayton Lawyer For Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor
Statutory rape charges may seem hard to fight. Because the consequences and stigma associated with these charges are so serious, you must act quickly to combat those charges. In any of these cases, it is important to remember that you are innocent until proven guilty. When you need representation, experience matters. The lawyers at Joslyn Law Firm are experienced with the criminal justice process and will fight for you in your case. For a free, confidential consultation, call us at (937) 356-3969 or visit our website.
Information Center
- Ohio Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor (Statutory Rape)
- Elements Of Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor In Ohio
- What Are The Penalties For An Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor Conviction In Dayton?
- Indirect Consequences Of Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor
- Defenses To Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor In Ohio
- What To Do If You Are Arrested For Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor In Dayton?
Ohio Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor (Statutory Rape)
Statutory rape involves sexual conduct—consensual or not—between two people where one or both cannot consent by law. Statutory rape happens when you are 18 years or older and the victim is 13 to 15 years old at the time of the offense, or where the victim is 16 or 17 years old, and the alleged offender is more than four years older. Even if you are not aware of the minor’s age at the time of the offense, you may still be guilty of sexual conduct with a minor. If you are under 18 and the alleged victim is 13 or older, you cannot be charged with statutory rape. Anyone who has sex with someone younger than 13, regardless of their age, is guilty of rape.
Elements Of Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor In Ohio
To obtain an unlawful sexual conduct with a minor conviction in Ohio, the prosecution must prove these elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
- You are over the age of 18;
- You and the alleged victim engaged in “sexual conduct;”
- The parties were not spouses (marriage of minors prior to 2019 may be used to defend against statutory rape charges);
- The alleged victim was older than 13 and under 16 years old; and
- You knew or should have known that the alleged victim was under 16 at the time of the offense, or intentionally or recklessly did not try to determine age.
What Are The Penalties For An Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor Conviction In Dayton?
Depending on the circumstances in the case, you may be charged with a few different offenses. Some circumstances are more serious than others which changes the severity of the penalties that you might receive. The descriptions will explain the charges from least severe to most.
Direct Penalties
First-Degree Misdemeanor
A first-degree misdemeanor may be charged if the victim is 13 to 15 years old and you are less than four years older than them. First-degree misdemeanors may be punished by up to six months in prison and up to a $1,000 fine. If convicted, you will be placed on the Ohio sex offender registry for 15 years.
Fourth-Degree Felony
You may be charged with a fourth-degree felony if you are more than four years but less than 10 years older than the alleged victim. If you are convicted of a fourth-degree felony, you may serve six to 18 months in prison and be fined up to $5,000. Additionally, you will be placed on the Ohio sex offender registry for 25 years.
Third-Degree Felony
You may be charged with a third-degree felony if you are 10 or more years older than the victim at the time of the offense. If you are convicted of a third-degree felony, you may be sentenced to up to five years in prison and fined up to $10,000. If you have been charged with prior violent sex crimes, your prison term may increase. For a third-degree felony, you will be placed on the Ohio sex offender registry for life.
Second-Degree Felony
If you have been convicted of prior violent sex crimes—regardless of the age of the parties—in addition to the current offense, you will be charged with a second-degree felony. Second-degree felonies can be punished by up to 8 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000. A second-degree felony conviction requires lifetime placement on the Ohio sex offender registry.
Indirect Consequences Of Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor
In addition to the penalties above, the court may impose other consequences upon conviction. Dayton judges may or must, depending on the specific circumstances of the case, include these other elements to your sentence:
- Payment to the victim for costs arising from the offense;
- Reimbursement of court and investigation fees relating to the offense;
- Mandatory placement on the Ohio sex offender registry for different amounts of time depending on the degree of conviction;
In addition to the consequences above, status as a sex offender has other indirect consequences which can affect where you can go, how you can work, or what you can do in your day-to-day life. Some of these indirect consequences include:
- Inability to travel outside the state or country;
- Loss of employment opportunities;
- Ineligibility for some government financial assistance;
- Prohibition from certain places, like libraries, parks, and more.
While these are only some out of the lengthy list of other consequences you might face, these indirect consequences can have devastating effects, and depending on the nature of your offense, can last for the rest of your life.
Defenses To Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor In Ohio
If you are charged with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, it is vital that you hire an attorney as soon as possible. The defense attorneys at Joslyn Law Firm will be able to determine what defenses might be available to you to have your charges dismissed or reduced.
Under Age 18
If you are under 18 years old at the time of the offense, you cannot be charged for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. However, depending on the specific circumstances of the offense, you may still be charged with another sex crimes offense, like rape or sexual battery.
Lesser Included Offense
In some circumstances, two statutes may share similar elements that must be proven to be convicted. For example, you cannot be convicted of both sexual battery and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor because each charge requires that the alleged victim be a minor. In that case, the prosecution could only charge for sexual battery because it is the more severe of the two charges, which reduces potential penalties.
Prior Marriage
Evidence of being married to and living with the alleged victim at the time of the alleged offense can be used to defend against a statutory rape charge. However, this defense may only be used if the marriage occurred before 2019 or in another state. In 2019, the Ohio legislature changed the legal marriage age to 18, and some 17 year-olds, where the age difference is less than four years and with parental consent. Marriages that took place before 2019 or in another state will be allowed as a defense because the United States Constitution requires “full faith and credit” to respect the courts of other states, meaning a marriage that was legally entered in another state will be valid here even if that state’s laws are different.
Unfair Criminal Proceedings
The United States and Ohio Constitutions protect you from unfair criminal proceedings. If an indictment is not obtained from a grand jury, or if you are not allowed to hire an attorney or have one provided for you, or you are held in jail for an unreasonable length of time pending trial, then your defense attorney can argue that your rights have been violated. This argument could cause your case to be dismissed.
Fourth Amendment Rights Violations
the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution promises You have the right to be protected from unlawful searches and seizures by the government. In most cases, police and other law enforcement personnel must obtain a search warrant to enter your home to obtain evidence. Even without a warrant, though, law enforcement might still try to gather evidence by wrongful search of your property or by the threat of arrest to gain access to your home. If the evidence they gather and try to use at court was obtained without a warrant or a valid exception, your lawyer might argue to have the evidence excluded from your trial. If the evidence is excluded by the judge, that evidence may not be used against you.
Rape Kit Defense
Rape kit evidence, or evidence obtained by medical personnel and investigators such as nail clippings, and hair samples, are only valid for a certain amount of time. In most cases, the evidence in the kits is only reliable if collected and submitted within three days of the alleged offense. However, evidence from more sophisticated kits may be reliable if taken up to 6 weeks after the offense. With either kind of kit, if there are delays in the alleged victim’s examination, this means that vital DNA evidence that could serve to prove your innocence might be lost or corrupted. In a case of a substantial delay in an examination, your attorney may argue that the evidence should be thrown out.
False Accusations
If you have been falsely accused of a sex crime by someone else, the case against you may be dismissed if your attorney can prove that the allegations against you are untrue. In some cases, the false accuser could face criminal charges.
Insufficient Evidence
In some cases, there may not be enough evidence to support the prosecution’s charges against you. Sometimes an attorney may successfully argue that some evidence is not admissible in court. If the judge agrees, the evidence is not allowed in court. If after that evidence is thrown out, the prosecution does not have enough evidence to prove the charges, your case may be dismissed by the court or dropped by the prosecution.
Alibi
An alibi is an explanation usually provided by the defendant to show that they are not responsible for a certain crime or offense. In one example, you might be accused of committing a sex crime in a city at a certain time. To counter the allegation, your attorney presents a credit receipt that has your information on it and shows that you purchased gas in another city four hours away at the same time as the offense. If the court and jury find the alibi true, the case against you may be dismissed.
Lack Of Knowledge
Lack of knowledge is an affirmative defense that involves admitting that you committed the offense you are accused of, but that some event or circumstance caused you to commit the offense. For example, you have been charged with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. At the time of the offense, you are over 18 and the victim is 13. If convicted, you would be subject to harsh penalties due to the age difference. However, if you had attempted to learn the person’s age, the age they gave you was false, and you had no reason to believe the age was false, you may be entitled to the defense. For example, if you attempted to determine the other person’s age by asking for their drivers’ license, but the age listed on that license was false, your genuine attempt to determine age could be used as a defense.
“Romeo And Juliet” Mitigation (Ohio Rule of Lenity)
In cases where you are over 18, and the alleged victim is less than four years younger than you, the Ohio rule of lenity may apply. The rule of lenity requires that if a criminal statute is ambiguous, that the “ambiguity” should be in the accused’s favor. Applied, this means that being over the age of 18, depending on the age of the other person, may result in a misdemeanor conviction instead of a felony. The differences in penalties for misdemeanors and felonies are significant, so careful calculation is important. For example, if you are 18, born on January 1, 2003, and the alleged victim is 14, born on January 1, 2006, then yours and the victim’s ages are four years apart, exposing you to a potential felony charge. However, the circumstances are different if the actual age difference is three years, 11 months, and 30 days, which is less than four years.
What To Do If You Are Arrested For Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor In Dayton?
It is important to remember that you are innocent until proven guilty. When the arrest occurs, you should remain silent and request an attorney. If you are arrested, you have a constitutional right to remain silent and to have an attorney present. It is important to invoke these rights before, during, and after the arrest to protect your rights and defense in court. If you have been arrested for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor in Dayton, call Joslyn Law Firm at (937) 356-3969 or contact us online so that we can protect your rights.
Hiring The Best Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor Lawyer In Dayton
Because charges of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor can have severe consequences, it is important to mount a strong defense to combat them. When creating a defense, it is vital that you have an attorney who understands the law and processes associated with cases like these. At Joslyn Law Firm, our attorneys have experience with over 20,000 criminal defense cases, which include unlawful sexual conduct with a minor cases. We appreciate how serious your situation is, and we will fight hard to defend you and your rights throughout the entire process. If you need experienced defense representation, call Joslyn Law Firm at (937) 356-3969 or visit us at our website to set up a free, no-obligation consultation.
