Sexual Assault Penalties

Unlike some criminal charges where the accused has been convicted of sexual assault the penalty can be sever and long lasting.  Before any trial or evidence is heard by the court the allegation of a sexual assault can include immediate ramifications such as:

• unwanted publicity and media attention
• termination of employment
• public damation
• restrictive bail conditions

The immediate consequences of being charged with sexual assault can be debilitating to most people. Numerous individuals have been publicly shamed, fired and discredited where unfounded allegations are rightly or wrongly distributed by the media.

Upon conviction of sexual assault, the accused will additional penalties on top of what a judge may impose such as;

• mandatory registration in the National Sex Offender Registry
• mandatory collection of your DNA to be held in the DNA Data Bank
• travel outside of Canada restrictions
• employment restrictions

Upon being convicted of a sexual assault the accused will be treated severely with ongoing police and public scrutiny.

Everyone who commits a sexual assault is guilty of

• An indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or
• An offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding eighteen months

Sexual assaults can involve, sexual harassment, Elderly sexual assault Groping Rape and sexual harassment.

I was wrongly accused, the media was out for me but Nick stopped that with a publication ban, in the middle of the trial the crown attorney withdrew the charges as it was obvious the complaint was unfounded. Many thanks, highly recommend. Name withheld.

Sexual Assault is defined as an assault of a sexual nature that violates the sexual integrity of the victim. The Supreme Court of Canada held that the act of sexual assault does not depend solely on contact with any specific part of the human anatomy but rather the act of a sexual nature that violates the sexual integrity of the victim. When investigating a sexual assault, there are certain relevant factors to consider:

• The part of the body touched
• The nature of the contact
• The situation in which the contact occurred
• The words and gestures accompanying the act
• All other circumstances surrounding the act
• Any threats that may or may not be accompanied by force

The victim of the sexual assault can be man or woman and the attacker can be of the same sex as the victim. A spouse may be charged with sexual assault upon the other spouse.

A person commits an assault when without the consent of another person,

• he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly;
• he attempts or threatens, by an act or a gesture,
• to apply force to another person,
• if he has, or causes that other person to believe on reasonable grounds that he has, present ability to effect his purpose;

or while openly wearing or carrying a weapon or an imitation thereof, he accosts or impedes another person or begs. For the purposes of this section, no consent is obtained where the complainant submits or does not resist by reason of;

• the application of force to the complainant or to a person other than the complainant;
• threats or fear of the application of force to the complainant or to a person other than the complainant;
• fraud;
• the exercise of authority.

The Criminal Code of Canada applies to all forms of assault, including sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, threats to a third party or causing bodily harm and aggravated sexual assault.

Common assault is the lowest level of assault charges in Canada.  A simple or common assault is where one person has applied force upon another person usually where no injury as occurred or the injury is very minor in nature, e.g a scrape or minor bruise.

Where an incident has occurred and it is a one time situation with no history or previous criminal record the crown attorney may deal with these charges with community service, conditional discharges or by way of diversion.