Chester County Institutional Sexual Assault Lawyer
Pennsylvania Institutional Sexual Assault
All sexual assault charges are serious. However, there are particular circumstances, which can make sexual assault charges even more severe. Institutional Sexual Assault occurs when institutional employees or agents engage in sexual acts or indecent contact with an inmate, resident, patient or detainee of the facility. Facilities included under the Pennsylvania institutional Sexual Assault laws include: state or county juvenile detention centers, youth camps or development centers, county correctional authorities, schools and daycare facilities and the Department of Corrections. Employees or agents who work in these facilities can face severe penalties for any act of sexual intercourse or indecent contact, and could be charged with a third-degree felony.
Punishments for Pennsylvania institutional Sexual Assault can range from jail or prison up to seven years and a fine from $2,500 and $15,000. The fines and penalties are so severe because state and county employees in the state of Pennsylvania as well as teachers and childcare workers are held to higher standards. Because these employees are responsible for the safety and the welfare of those they deal with, and because, in most cases, the person who is sexually assaulted is unable to leave the facility, the penalties for a conviction are severe.
Institutional Sexual Assault of a Minor
If the Institutional Sexual Assault was perpetrated on a minor under the age of 18, it is also a third-degree felony. Institutional Sexual Assault with a minor may also include children receiving care in any type of center for children including a family home daycare, a child daycare center or a boarding-type home. In fact, any person who is a volunteer or employee of a school, or any person having direct contact with a student at a school commits a third-degree felony if sexual intercourse or indecent contact is engaged in with a minor.
Employees of a school can include teachers, coaches, principals, vice-principals, substitute teachers, school nurses, janitors, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, teacher aides, child nutrition specialists, school counselors, athletic trainers or any independent contractor hired by the school system.
A student employed at the school or an independent contractor or employee of an independent contractor who has no direct contact with the students in the school are not included.
Levels of Offenders
There are four different types of Institutional Sexual Assault, each of which is governed under a separate Pennsylvania statute.
- Institutional Sexual Assault
- Institutional Sexual Assault of a minor
- Institutional Sexual Assault at a school
- Institutional Sexual Assault at a childcare facility
All of these are charged as third-degree felonies, however under Megan’s Law, the classification or tier or sex offender will be dependent upon the specific crime the offender has been convicted of. Tier I offenders are those who are convicted of Institutional Sexual Assault.
These offenders are required to register each year for a period of fifteen years. Tier II offenders are those convicted of Institutional Sexual Assault at a school or Institutional Sexual Assault at a childcare facility. This level of offender must register every six months for a period of twenty-five years. Tier III offenders are those who have been convicted of Institutional Sexual Assault of a Minor under the age of 18. This level of offender must register every three months for the remainder of his or her life.
Defenses to Pennsylvania Institutional Sexual Assault
It is imperative you not take charges of institutional Sexual Assault lightly; your reputation can be left in shreds, and you can suffer severe damage to your career, your relationships, and your entire future. Many people make the mistake of assuming that because the accusations against them are false, their innocence of the charges will come to light and “save” them. Unfortunately, there are many people sitting in jails and prisons who are innocent of the crime they were convicted of. Aside from criminal penalties, a conviction for Institutional Sexual Assault can bring irreparable damage to careers and personal lives, and can even require the convicted person to register as a sex offender for a significant amount of time—possibly even for the remainder of the convicted person’s life.
Once you have a Pennsylvania criminal defense attorney defending your charges, he or she will look at the circumstances of your case in order to determine the most appropriate defense. Many sexual assault cases end up as a “he said/she said” scenario, and, unfortunately, juries tend to err on the side of caution, siding with the alleged victim. Your defense could be one of the following, although there are other defenses to the charges as well:
- Perhaps you have an alibi which puts you in another location at the time the alleged crime occurred. This would clearly make you innocent of the charges against you, making your guilt a physical impossibility.
- You may be the victim of false accusations. There are many reasons some people choose to make up a story against another person. The motivation could be straight up revenge for a real or imagined slight, financial extortion, or a way to cover up an incident of consensual sex.
- You could be the victim of an illegal search and seizure. This can occur when electronic communications you sent or received were collected as forensic evidence, but that evidence was illegally obtained.
- Your attorney could show you engaged in the alleged conduct as a result of coercion, use of unlawful force or the threat of unlawful force which you were unable to resist.
- In some cases, particularly those involving young children, tainted evidence may be a defense if the adults or authorities coerced a false accusation against you through biased or suggestive questioning tactics.
The moment you are charged with Institutional Sexual Assault in the state of Pennsylvania, you must take immediate action. Your reputation at work and at home, your liberty, and your future are all at stake, and it is crucial you speak to an experienced, knowledgeable Pennsylvania criminal defense attorney. You need an attorney who will actively seek the best options and the best strategy with a goal of ensuring the very best outcome on your behalf.
Contact Our Pennsylvania Sexual Assault Defense Lawyers
If you have been charged with institutional sexual assault in Pennsylvania, it is crucial you speak to an experienced Pennsylvania criminal defense attorney in order to ensure your rights are protected and your future holds some hope.
The West Chester defense attorneys at Ciccarelli Law Offices have successfully represented individuals throughout the state of Pennsylvania that have been accused of sexual assault crimes. Contact our office now for questions or for a free case evaluation at (610) 692-8700 or call toll free (877) 529-2422.