What is a Sexual Assault?

Sexual assaults affect millions of Americans annually. The term encompasses various actions that involve behavior or contact toward another person without their consent. The actions are defined by state law and can therefore differ by jurisdiction. However, some common examples of sexual assault include:

Fondling, kissing, or making unwanted bodily contact;

Forcing another person to perform or receive oral sex;

Forcing a tongue, mouth, finger, penis, or an object on another person's anus, penis, or vagina; and

Forced masturbation. 

In general, sexual assault is involuntary sexual contact that occurs through the actor's use of force, coercion or the victim's incapacitation. The law will consider the victim incapacitated if he or she did not have the mental ability to understand the nature of the sexual acts, or if the victim was physically incapable of indicating their unwillingness to participate in the sexual conduct. Common examples of these charges may arise from the use of alcohol or date rape drugs, both of which can make it impossible for a victim to legally consent to sexual conduct.

Modern laws covering this subject area include the nonconsensual sexual contact that occurs between any sex and between people of any age. For example, most laws cover involuntary sexual contact occurring between two men, two women or two children, etc., not just an adult man and woman.

Most states have made sexual assault the umbrella term for other crimes, such as rape and unwanted sexual contact. Some states distinguish between crimes involving penetration and crimes involving coerced or involuntary touching, making the former an aggravated or first-degree sexual assault and the latter a lower-level sexual assault.

Sexual assault laws regarding rape and criminal sexual penetration usually define this conduct as a felony with serious penalties. Many states have divided the crime of rape into degrees, like rape in the first and second degree. The charge will depend on the type of force used, whether the sexual assault resulted in serious bodily injury, or whether it was committed with a deadly weapon, such as a rape at gun point. Possible sentences can range from one year to even life in prison, depending on the provisions of each state’s sentencing statute or sentencing guidelines. Some states require a minimum prison sentence or require the court to impose a prison sentence without probation or early parole. In other states, the judge may have some discretion on the length of the sentence and whether to allow the defendant to serve any portion of the sentence on probation rather than in prison.