Sexual assault and sexual harassment are serious problems that demand our immediate attention. Forced sexual contact and unwelcome comments of sexual nature are offensive and undermine the safety, security, and dignity of all people. Before we get into further details, let us know what sexual assault is and the second degree of it.
It is a heinous Second Degree Sexual Assault when one person indulges with another person who is thirteen years of age or older but under sixteen years of age and the actor is more than two years older than such person or such other person is less than eighteen years old and the actor is such person's guardian or otherwise responsible for the general supervision of such person's welfare.
2nd Degree Sexual Assault Cases convicts one when he/she indulges in sexual assault with one such person who is mentally defective or physically helpless to the extent that he/she is unable to consent to such sexual intercourse.
A person can also be guilty of 2nd Degree Sexual Assaults if he/she being an employee, volunteer of the Department of Corrections, or a detention facility for the custody, supervision, evaluation, or treatment of offenders, do subject an offender who is incarcerated, supervised, evaluated, or treated by the Department of Corrections or the detention facility, to any kind of sexual contact, forcefully. Such includes medical facility, schooling and legal custody. As a punishment to Second Degree Sexual Assault, one can be imprisoned up to 20 years and/or fined not more than $10,000 for committing second degree sexual assault.
Charges against Second Degree Sexual Assault
By judging the degree of seriousness of a crime committed, a mode of punishment is assigned to it. Termed as Felony Crimes, Sexual Assault of Second Degree falls under the category of felony C. A Class C Felony charges a penalty of $ 1,00,000 or imprisonment of 40 years or both depending upon the crime committed by the convict. The law for a repeat offender is that the term of imprisonment may increase up to 2 years with prior misdemeanor convictions, and up to 6 years with a prior felony conviction.
Find Second Degree Sexual Assault Records and Information
Sexual Assault Records are easy to find in today's Internet age. Most records and statistics available online are authentic and are free to be accessed along with the case details. A study originally published in the Alaska Justice Forum 20(4) involving Criminal Sexual Assault reports that 12% of felony Court Records cases included sexual offense as the original single most serious charge. 81% of charges for sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree were convicted as Sexual Assault Cases whereas 41% were convicted as sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree, 13% were convicted as misdemeanors.
There are few more facts and figures that have been published in Alaska Justice Forum which depicts the processing mechanisms of the sexual assault cases. The information were reported to the Anchorage Police Department in the early 21st century. A wide research work was performed to publish the data that includes 1,052 cases involving one suspect and one victim (85% of all reported sexual assaults). Browsing through the Alaska Department of Law, cases and charges were tracked upon to determine the different considerations by the court. Among the cases, 18 % were referred for prosecution (79 % of which were cases regarding sexual assaults), 12 % cases were accepted for prosecution (68 % of which were sexual assault records) and 11 % of the total number of cases gained recognition for conviction (out of which 56 % were again sexual assault cases).
Most importantly, 55% of charges for Sexual Assault Records in the second degree were convicted as sexual offense charges. 17% were filed in The Second Degree Sexual Assault Records while 34% were convicted as misdemeanors.In the famous case of late 80's, 4 people (Christopher Archer, Bryant Grober, Kevin Scherzer, and Kyle Scherzer) were convicted in Second Degree Sexual Assault of a retarded New Jersey woman on March 1, 1989. But the central issue in the 23-week trial was whether the young woman, who has an I.Q. of 64, was mentally defective as defined by the law, unable to understand or exercise her right to refuse to engage in sex acts. It took three days of often angry debate to resolve another crucial element in the state's law on mental defectiveness; whether the defendants knew or should have known the young woman lacked the ability to refuse.
Cases of sexual assaults in second degree have aggravated more in the recent times. Be it within the states or outside, sexual assault cases have marked a mandatory space in the various modes of media. And more often, people with power ( hailing from politics or having superiority in educational institutes) misuse them by luring youngsters with futile promises.
Recent news in the Los Angeles Times reports a case of an ex-student who suffered from sexual assaults from an ex-LA unified administrator. The mental torture and agony that one suffers gets clearly depicted when you go through this piece of article. The extent of mental trauma reaches so deep that the victim feels "worthless and guilty? while presenting herself in front of the society. The convict in this case, Mr. Steve Thomas Rooney not only ruined a single life, but also three more lives of young girls. The former victim feels the college administrator deviated her from leading a normal life by assaulting her sexually whenever possible. This news report clearly portrays the dark side of power.
The convicted administrator used his power to molest and sexually abuse the teenagers, whom needed to be protected by him otherwise. Enquired by the probation investigator, the girl admitted of having a "long term affair? with the convict. The ex-administrator used to take the girl with him wherever he toured and during this course, the girl reported of having sex at least 150 times.
True, that the girl should have protested long back, but maybe in the fear of expulsion, she stayed with him. Rooney's conduct was eventually investigated after the girl's stepfather threatened Rooney with a gun.But the girl withdrew her allegations. The district reassigned him to Fremont High and then Markham Middle School as an assistant principal, where police allege he found two more victims. One of those victims told investigators that she was taken last March where she was stripped naked and "raped twice and sodomized." This time Rooney was not lucky and was immediately arrested. Evidences have been found out too as the former victim flushed out the hidden documents by openly publishing a scrapbook that included photos of her and Rooney kissing and visiting his parents. The ex-administrator now faces a sentence of eight years in state prison. Clearly, it is one of those story that is happening each and every day in various parts of the world.
Being a responsible citizen of your country, you should work out to find the various means of prevention. Maybe with increasing number of criminal records, it becomes a tedious task for the courts to sort out and carry out prosecution. This serious offence can be handled and the numbers can be brought down if you are alert . Few means of awareness should be followed which may help you from staying away from such illegal actions. Try to avoid alcohols and drugs as they can alter your behavioral patterns, thus many a times indulging in sex crimes. Knowing the limits, being assertive helps to take correct and meaningful decisions.
Trusting intuitions come as a good aid. If you feel uncomfortable under any circumstances, move out of it as soon as possible. It is always better to avoid dark and desolate areas and while you walk, let assurance and confidence be your main weapons. You should even equip yourself with self defense mechanisms. While at home, keep a check on all the doors whether they are perfectly locked or not. Enquire thoroughly when a salesman or some unknown comes at your residence. Going by the records, domestic attacks have been one of the most burning issues that falls under the charges. Avoid prank calls, do avoid inviting your acquaintance or someone you are dating ; prohibit yourself from exchanging messages with sexual content : these factors have contributed on a large scale before any sexual assault has taken place.
But in cases, where assaults have taken place you should follow certain measures that would aid in processing your complaints at a faster rate in the courts. If you are a victim, immediately report the incident to the University Police without throwing away any proof. It is even recommended not to change clothes, take shower or clean up. The raw details would be of a great help to the Officer-In-Charge. The materials that come as a significant evidence are: vehicle license number of convict, race of the assailant, an approximate data of height, weight and age of the convict along with his eye color and clothing (at the time during which the assault took place). Searching through Court records, it has been found out how the stated materials have helped in publishing the verdict. A joint effort of sincerity and mental alertness is what you should possess to do away with sexual assaults.
