Anyone who had sexual encounters with a minor or younger than 16 years old violates the Statutory Rape law; the age of consent throughout Nevada is 16 years old.
Statutory rape of a minor even if no rape occurred and sexual act is consensual can be have consequences. If you have been accused and found guilty for statutory rape, you will face harsh penalties such as imprisonment, hefty fines, and a potential sex offender status for a lifetime.
Attorney Ross Goodman had previous experience in fighting sex offense cases and negotiating statutory rape charges to reduce it to a lesser offense or even an acquittal of the case. This page is about the statutory seduction law, its definition, possible defenses, punishments, and how we can help.
Statutory Sexual Seduction or Statutory Rape
The laws defined statutory rape or statutory sexual seduction as either of the following:
- Any sexual penetration by a person 18 years old or older with a person under 16 years old with an intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying lust or passion or sexual desire of either of the persons; or
- Any sexual intercourse (anal, cunnilingus, or fellatio) by a person 18 years old and above with a person under 16 years old.
However, statutory rape is considered as a strict liability crime, meaning that someone can be found guilty of this offense even if they are completely unaware that the alleged victim was under sixteen.
Statutory Sexual Abuse: The Defenses
Being accused with statutory rape is extremely frightening rather than being accused of a crime since the possible penalties are equally serious. The court judges however, realized that there are people who are wrongly accused and there are several defenses that your criminal defense attorney can use. These possible defenses are:
Age of Consent
Since the age of majority or consent in Nevada is 16 years old, if the alleged victim was 16 years old or more at the time of the incident, the statutory charges would not stand.
Lack of Evidence
To be convicted of statutory rape, the prosecution has to prove that you are guilty beyond reasonable doubt. We can show if the state evidences are too weak or vague to prove that you are guilty of the crime. If in case the evidences are weak or would not stand against your defenses, either you will get acquitted or the prosecution will negotiate to reduce the charges.
Falsely accused
Like battery domestic violence and sexual assault charges, statutory sexual seduction is commonly used to wrongly accuse by some people out of revenge, anger, or to influence child custody procedures. Once your legal counsel can prove such wrong accusations, your case should be dismissed.
It is important to get in touch with a sexual assault lawyer for these cases.
Statutory Sexual Seduction: The Penalties
Punishments for statutory sexual seduction depends on the age of the person who is being accused.
21 years old or above:
- Category C Felony
- 1 to 5 years imprisonment
- Fines up to $10,000
21 years old or below:
- Gross misdemeanor offenses
- 1 year imprisonment
- Fines up to $2,000
*Statutory sexual seduction is considered a crime against moral turpitude of Nevada, non-citizens that are convicted can be possibly deported from the U.S.
Statutory Rape between Teachers and Students
There are separate laws between sexual crimes teachers and students. However, the punishments for such crime are
Teacher is 21 years old or older and student is 16/17 years old:
- Category C Felony
- 1 to 5 years imprisonment
- Fines up to $10,000
Teacher is 21 years old or older and student is 14/15 years old:
- Category B Felony
- 1 to 6 years imprisonment
- Fines up to $5,000
Registration of Sex Offender
Once convicted of statutory sexual seduction in Las Vegas, the accused will be ordered to register as a sex offender for life. It is important to have legal counsel to negotiate plea bargain that has no sex offender consequences.
Sex Crimes Attorney For Statutory Sexual Seduction
A serious crime such as statutory rape needs a highly qualified and experienced Las Vegas sex crimes lawyer. Contact one that can help you with your charges and help with the negotiation to either lessen the charges or get the case dismissed altogether.