Defining sex crimes

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Do the words "sex crime" mean more than just rape, as many people think when they see or hear those words?

Yes, according to Kansas statutes.

Sexual assault can mean rape, but it can also refer to indecent liberties with a child, aggravated indecent liberties with a child, criminal sodomy, aggravated criminal sodomy, incest and aggravated incest.

And in Kansas, those are the charges that can be filed against suspects in sex crime cases.

A closer look into the definitions of those terms reveals there are specific parameters that help the prosecutor decide what charges to file against someone.

For example, rape is sexual intercourse with a person who doesn't give consent under the following circumstances: when the victim is overcome by force or fear; when the victim is unconscious or physically powerless; or when the victim can't give consent because of mental problems, alcohol or drugs.

Also, rape is sexual intercourse with a child under 14 years old.

Kansas statutes say that sexual intercourse is any penetration of the female sex organ by a finger, the male organ or any object. Any penetration, however slight, constitutes intercourse. The law exempts generally recognized health care practices or body cavity searches.

Indecent liberties with a child is any lewd fondling or touching or soliciting of the victim or the offender to satisfy sexual desires of the victim, offender or both. It's engaging in those activities with a child who is 14 years-old but less than 16 years old.

Aggravated indecent liberties is sexual intercourse with a child who is 14 or more years of age but less than 16 years of age.

It also covers the same criteria as indecent liberties with a child but with a person under the age of 14 years-old.

Criminal sodomy is sodomy between people who are 16 years-old or more and members of the same sex or between a person or an animal. It also means sodomy with a child who is 14 years or more of age but less than 16 years-old or causing a child 14 years-old but less than 16 years-old to engage in sodomy with any person or animal.

Sodomy means oral contact or oral penetration of the female genitalia or oral contact of the male genitalia. Sodomy is also anal penetration, however slight, of a male or female by any body part or object. As with sexual intercourse, sodomy doesn't include performances of health care practices or body cavity searches.

Aggravated criminal sodomy is sodomy with a child under 14 years old. It's different from criminal sodomy because the victim overcome by force or fear or when the victim is unconscious or physically powerless or is unable to give consent because of drugs or alcohol.

Sex crimes also covers what the law calls "unlawful sexual acts" that include not only sexual assault charges but also sexual exploitation of a child, lewd and lascivious behavior, sexual battery or aggravated sexual battery.

"I would say that the definition of sex crimes has expanded to include an enormous array of acts, certainly including what we would all recognize as a sex crime-- forcible rape, for instance," said Mark Pendergrast, an investigative journalist who has researched and wrote about sex crimes and specifically false confessions. "But it can also mean someone who exposes himself, who looks at child pornography on a computer, or who has consensual sex with a young teen."

For example, prosecutors can file a sexual exploitation charge against someone who is suspected of obtaining or taking child pornography. Lewd and lascivious behavior is someone, for instance, exposing him or herself in a public place.

Since 2005, there have been 19 sex crimes cases prosecuted in Bourbon County District Court.

Ten of the cases have concluded, with the suspects sentenced to probation or prison except for one case in which the charges were dropped against a Fort Scott man accused of molesting a 6-year-old.

The most common sex-crime charge that the Bourbon County Attorney's Office filed was either aggravated indecent liberties and indecent liberties. The charge was filed in 16 of the 18 cases.

The second most-common charge was aggravated criminal sodomy and sodomy followed by rape.

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