If your family has recently been affected by sexual violence, you may be struggling to find answers and justice. Are you troubled with questions like:
- Will the person responsible be sent to prison?
- What can we do if the perpetrator isn't convicted?
- How can filing a civil sexual abuse lawsuit help?
Our Kansas sexual abuse victims' assault lawyers understand what survivors go through and what they need. We can help.
While criminal prosecutors help convict sexual predators, our sexual abuse lawyers look out for the rights of the victims.
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If you or a loved one is a survivor of sexual assault, rape, or child sexual abuse, you may be wondering how the legal system can help your family. It’s important to know that there are two legal systems which handle these crimes – the criminal justice system, which prosecutes sexual offenders, and the civil court system, which helps compensate victims for damages related to their sexual abuse or sexual assault.
Criminal Sexual Assault & Child Abuse Lawsuits In Kansas
For many families in this situation, seeing the offender locked up is the first step to recovery. This also helps ensure that other victims are not forced to suffer at the hands of a dangerous predator. If you’re curious how Kansas’ criminal justice system may punish the sexual offender who violated you or a loved one, you can find out more here. We’ve summarized the five sexual crime statutes in Kansas below.
In order to gain a better understanding of your rights as a victim, we suggest speaking with an experienced Kansas sexual assault lawyer as soon as possible. From Kansas City and Wichita to Dodge City and Garden City, our lawyers specialize in these cases and can help you with each aspect of your recovery, including reporting the crime to the police and filing a lawsuit against your offender or negligent third parties who could have prevented the crime from occurring.
If you're ready to learn more about your legal options as the survivor of a sexual crime, we can help you find answers in a free consultation.
Criminal Sodomy
In Kansas, a person can be convicted of criminal sodomy if he or she:
- Engages in oral or anal sexual conduct with an animal
- Engages in oral or anal sexual conduct with a child who is 14 years of age or older but younger than 16 years of age
- Causes a child 14 years or older but younger than 16 years to engage in sodomy with any person or animal
Criminal sodomy can be charged as a Class B nonperson misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in prison if the act is committed against an animal. If the victim is a child between 14-16, this crime is a Level 3 person felony punishable by up to 59 months in prison.
Aggravated Criminal Sodomy
A person commits aggravated criminal sodomy if he or she:
- Commits sodomy against a victim younger than 14 years of age
- Causes a child to engage in sodomy with any person or animal
- Sodomy with a victim who does not consent or causing a victim to engage in sodomy with any person or animal without their consent
- Commits sodomy when the victim is either unconscious, overcome by force or fear, or incapable of giving consent because of a mental deficiency or disease or because of the influence of alcohol, narcotics, drugs, or other substances.
Aggravated criminal sodomy is a Level 2 person felony, punishable by up to 117 months in prison.
Sexual Battery
A person is guilty of sexual battery if he or she touches a victim with the intent to arouse sexual desires of themselves or another person when the person is not their spouse, is at least 16 years old, and does not consent to the touching.
In Kansas, sexual battery is a Class A person misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year in prison.
Aggravated Sexual Battery
A person can be charged with aggravated sexual battery when they commit sexual battery (as defined above)Â when the victim is:
- Overcome by force or fear
- Unconscious or physically powerless
- Incapable of giving consent because of a mental deficiency, disease, or intoxication
Aggravated sexual battery is a Level 5 person felony punishable by up to 32 months in prison.
Rape
A person may be considered guilty of rape in Kansas if he or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person without their consent under any of these circumstances:
- The victim is overcome by force or fear
- The victim is unconscious or physically powerless
- The victim is incapable of giving consent because of a mental deficiency or disease, or because they’re intoxicated
- Any sexual intercourse with a child under 14 years of age
- Sexual intercourse which occurs when a victim’s consent is obtained through fraud, such as claiming that the intercourse is medically necessary or a legally required procedure under the offender’s authority
Rape can either be charged as a Level 1 person felony, Level 2 person felony, or an off-grid person felony, depending on the circumstances of the crime.
If the victim has been overcome by force or fear or is unconscious or physically powerless, the perpetrator will be charged with a Level 1 person felony. This charge is punishable by up to 155 months in prison. These charges also apply in cases involving a victim who is unable to consent because of a mental defect or disease, or because of intoxicants like drugs and alcohol.
If consent was obtained through fraudulent measures, such as claiming that sexual contact is medically or therapeutically necessary, the offender will be charged with a Level 2 person felony, punishable by up to 117 months in prison.
If the victim was a child under the age of 14, the offender could be sentenced according to Jessica’s Law. This law specifically applies to cases of child sexual abuse and there are versions in 42 different states. Under Jessica’s law, a first-time child sex offender will serve a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison. If the offender has a previous conviction for sexual assault in any jurisdiction in the US, he or she will face a minimum of 40 years in prison without the possibility of parole.