Sexual
Assaults
Assaults
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Rape and other variations of sexual assaults have always been against
the law just like other crimes. Even though all statute law is written by
legislatures dominated by lawyers, most criminal law statutes are pretty
clear and easy to understand.
Laws regarding sexual assaults do become a little more complicated
since the circumstances of an alleged sexual assault may determine
whether the sexual contact is lawful or unlawful. For instance, a 14 year
old female has consensual intercourse with an 18 year old male . Your
state statute may define this example as rape, or some degree of sexual
assault; even though, the sexual intercourse was consensual. The
statute may define the violation as sexual intercourse with a female
under the age of 15 by a male four, or more, years older than the victim
as rape -- most commonly referred to as statutory rape.
Let's say you're the police officer who gets the call from the girl's
parents in this example. You quickly determine that the sex was
consensual, and there is absolutely no evidence to indicate the alleged
victim was forcibly raped. The parents -- understandably -- are livid,
and they're demanding the immediate arrest of the suspect who they
describe as a real "dirtbag."
First things first. You transport the alleged victim, and her parents, to
the hospital where trained medical professionals will conduct a Rape and
Sexual Assault Examination. You'll be provided with what is commonly
referred to as a Rape Kit which you'll submit for laboratory analysis to
determine the presence of physical evidence to indicate that intercourse
did occur.
As your investigation continues, you arrive at the home of the suspect
in this incident. You meet the suspect and his mother. Almost
immediately you're in total agreement with the suspect's earlier
description as a "dirtbag." The suspect is arrogant, uncooperative, and
he's actually physically dirty. The mother, on the other hand, is totally
cooperative, and she answers all your questions without reservation.
You're taken back -- just a bit -- when the mother provides you with the
suspect's date of birth. Coincidentally, the month and day of the
suspect's date of birth is exactly the same as that of the alleged victim.
The year of birth does verify that the suspect and alleged victim are four
years apart in age, but, is the suspect actually four full years older than
the alleged victim? The determining factor will be who was born first on
their shared day of birth -- the suspect or the alleged victim.
While this example is a bit bizarre, it makes the point. You will
investigate similar situations where age differences will determine
whether a sex crime has occurred. While the determining factor
probably won't be hours or minutes, it could well be determined by
months, weeks, or even days. An important thing for you to remember
is where age differences do apply, the use or threat of force is not a
necessary component to establish the crime of rape or other degree of
sexual assault.
There's no reason why you should be confused in distinguishing rape
from other forms of sexual assaults. Rape always requires vaginal
intercourse. You may be thinking, "What about attempted rape?"
Sustaining an allegation of attempted rape is more difficult than
attempts to commit other crimes.
In a robbery, for instance, the robber points a gun at a woman and
states, "Give me your money." A police car rolls around the corner,
and the robber flees, before any further interaction between the victim
and suspect has a chance to occur. It's obvious that a threat of force
was present. It's equally obvious that the suspect intended to rob the
victim.
In a situation where the suspect intends to rape or sexually assault a
victim, the verbal communication of a suspect's intent cannot be taken
as literally as in the robbery example. Using the same example, the
suspect points the gun at the woman and states, "Get in the alley and
take off your clothes." You might be saying, "His intent sounds pretty
clear to me." Well, what do you think he's going to do? Is he going to
rape the woman? Is he going to commit some other form of sexual
assault? Is the victim wearing some expensive item of clothing which
the suspect intends to steal? Is the suspect going to rob the victim
leaving her in a situation that will delay her attempt to summon help?
Here's where you come around the corner, and the suspect flees, so
you'll never really know.
While it's logical to believe your suspect in the second example did
intend some form of sexual assault, you'll never be able to prove what,
if any, kind of sexual assault he intended to commit. While most forms
of sexual assaults can occur quickly and with little effort by the suspect,
rape is different. That's why attempted rape will always require a "close
proximity to success" requirement.
Let's go back to our example. You come around the corner, and you
hear a woman screaming. You look into the alley where you see the
woman lying on her back. She is nude from the waist down, and the
suspect is on his knees between the woman's legs. The suspect is fully
clothed, but it's clear that he is committing a sexual assault. He's so
engrossed in his activity that he doesn't even hear you running up
behind him. You grab his shoulder and pull him backward and on down
on his back. You immediately notice that his penis is protruding from
the front of his pants, and it is fully erect. His erection is quickly
lost...probably because he's looking down the barrel of your pistol.
When it comes to sustaining a charge of attempted rape, this is as good
as it gets. It would strain the imagination to believe that the suspect did
not intend to achieve vaginal penetration with his erect penis. While
your sudden arrival prevented the victim from suffering the trauma of
being raped, the suspect would face the same consequences he would
face if he'd actually committed the crime of rape.
Let's try this another way. The suspect only gets as far as telling the
woman to take off her clothes. You chase and apprehend the suspect.
With what will you charge the suspect? You'll charge him with assault
for pointing the gun at the victim. During your investigation, you find
that the suspect was convicted for a previous robbery where he made the
identical statement to that victim. Can you charge him with attempted
robbery. No. That was then, this is now, but it does tell you that his
intent probably did not involve any intention to commit rape or other
sexual assault. Let's say the suspect's previous conviction was for rape.
The same standard applies, you only have what you have. However, the
suspect's previous conviction for rape under the same circumstances will
encourage the prosecutor to vigorously prosecute the suspect for the
assault [pointing the handgun] which is no small matter.
There's no question that investigating allegations of rape and sexual
assaults can be a lot more difficult than other types of crimes. While
the commission of some sex crimes will be obvious, others will not be so
obvious. Let's go from your experience with the rapist in the alley to
where you're sent to a home for a report of a rape. You enter a well
kept home where a woman exhibiting obvious intelligence tells you
she'd been raped by her husband. She explains that she and her
husband have been discussing separation for the past three months,
and, during that time, no sexual contact was occurring.
As the woman explains the incident you take note that the alleged
victim does not display any obvious signs of being physically assaulted.
Your continued observations within the home reveal no evidence of any
violent activity. The victim alleges that several hours earlier, her
husband pointed a handgun at her and demanded sexual intercourse
which he completed before leaving the home.
Initially, things are pretty simple in this example. You locate the actual
crime scene and ensure that any physical evidence is preserved such as
bed sheets upon which the intercourse allegedly took place. Remember,
the victim told you there'd been no sexual contact for the past three
months. Once you establish that the victim and suspect had been
sleeping apart, the presence of physical evidence identifying the suspect
would be more significant. However, the fact that the suspect resides in
the home lowers that level of significance.
During your interview, you learn that the handgun allegedly used is still
on the premises. The victim directs you to a bedroom closet, and she
points to the top shelf. With your flashlight in hand, you find
something to stand on to bring you to eye level with the top shelf. You
spot a manufacturers box used to package a revolver as described by the
victim. As you closely examine the box, you immediately begin to have
doubts. No home, no matter how well kept, is free of dust. From every
angle of your observations, it doesn't appear that the box has been
accessed in some time. Of course...the box could be empty. Very
carefully, you raise the lid only to find that the gun is inside the box.
The gun is well oiled, and you can't observe any visible fingerprints on
the gun. At this point, you've determined that if a gun was used, this
was not the gun. You stop your examination at this point, because you
want the box photographed in place and its collection done my your
crime lab.
The victim's account of the alleged rape has been seriously damaged.
That's not to say that a rape didn't occur. This victim could have thrown
in the gun part just to strengthen the forcible part of the offense.
You'll learn that victims, or alleged victims, of sexual assaults may
embellish...particularly when the suspect is known to the victim.
Needless to say, this example of an alleged rape could end up requiring a
lot of investigation.
Always keep an open mind. People have sex on their minds all the time
for one reason or another, and sex will always be the biggest complicator
you can imagine. When it comes to sex crimes, its complication factor
increases dramatically.
The open mind advice is more important than ever before. When I
began my police career, rapes and sexual assaults were just as serious as
they are today, but attitudes were much different. Rape and sexual
assault victims have always had advocates, but the advocates of the past
considered the involvement of police and the criminal justice system as
a measure of -- absolute -- last resort. The experts of the past viewed
police involvement and the process of prosecution as just another form
of rape for the victim.
How things do change. Today, nearly all the high profile advocates for
sex crimes victims haven't yet met an alleged victim who hasn't been
raped or sexually assaulted. With the advent of cable news and the 24
hour news cycle, you can find these sex crimes victims' advocate experts
everywhere. Unlike the advocates of the past, the new advocates
demand that the full weight of the criminal justice system must descend
upon every man accused of a sexual assault...or at least those men who
they identify as rapists and sexual predators. To be fair, there are
advocates who are genuinely fair minded, and their foremost interest is
in learning facts no matter where those facts may lead. You just won't
run into many of those types in the pecking order.
When you begin your police career as a patrol officer, your involvement
in rape investigations may be severely limited while you'll be expected
to fully investigate other forms of sexual assaults. If you join a police
department which requires you to immediately notify a rape or sex
crimes detective whenever a woman alleges rape (forcible vaginal
intercourse), you may think your department takes the crime of rape
very seriously. While that may be true, rape is one of the eight Part
One Crimes which is used to measure the instances of crimes and the
effectiveness of a police department's crime fighting efforts. In other
words, if a police department has a high number of rapes...that's bad. If
the number is low...that's good. Coincidentally, in police departments
where the investigations of rapes are tightly controlled through
supposedly highly trained specialized investigators, you'll find that
instances of rape remain pretty low.
The truth is this. When it comes to sex crimes, you've got to
immediately train yourself to treat the allegation of a sex crime just as
seriously as any other crime. When you find yourself tasked with the
preliminary investigation of rape or any other kind of sexual assault,
you must suppress any personal prejudices you may have. As a police
officer, you are the first line of defense for everyone...victims as well as
persons wrongly accused of committing crimes.
the law just like other crimes. Even though all statute law is written by
legislatures dominated by lawyers, most criminal law statutes are pretty
clear and easy to understand.
Laws regarding sexual assaults do become a little more complicated
since the circumstances of an alleged sexual assault may determine
whether the sexual contact is lawful or unlawful. For instance, a 14 year
old female has consensual intercourse with an 18 year old male . Your
state statute may define this example as rape, or some degree of sexual
assault; even though, the sexual intercourse was consensual. The
statute may define the violation as sexual intercourse with a female
under the age of 15 by a male four, or more, years older than the victim
as rape -- most commonly referred to as statutory rape.
Let's say you're the police officer who gets the call from the girl's
parents in this example. You quickly determine that the sex was
consensual, and there is absolutely no evidence to indicate the alleged
victim was forcibly raped. The parents -- understandably -- are livid,
and they're demanding the immediate arrest of the suspect who they
describe as a real "dirtbag."
First things first. You transport the alleged victim, and her parents, to
the hospital where trained medical professionals will conduct a Rape and
Sexual Assault Examination. You'll be provided with what is commonly
referred to as a Rape Kit which you'll submit for laboratory analysis to
determine the presence of physical evidence to indicate that intercourse
did occur.
As your investigation continues, you arrive at the home of the suspect
in this incident. You meet the suspect and his mother. Almost
immediately you're in total agreement with the suspect's earlier
description as a "dirtbag." The suspect is arrogant, uncooperative, and
he's actually physically dirty. The mother, on the other hand, is totally
cooperative, and she answers all your questions without reservation.
You're taken back -- just a bit -- when the mother provides you with the
suspect's date of birth. Coincidentally, the month and day of the
suspect's date of birth is exactly the same as that of the alleged victim.
The year of birth does verify that the suspect and alleged victim are four
years apart in age, but, is the suspect actually four full years older than
the alleged victim? The determining factor will be who was born first on
their shared day of birth -- the suspect or the alleged victim.
While this example is a bit bizarre, it makes the point. You will
investigate similar situations where age differences will determine
whether a sex crime has occurred. While the determining factor
probably won't be hours or minutes, it could well be determined by
months, weeks, or even days. An important thing for you to remember
is where age differences do apply, the use or threat of force is not a
necessary component to establish the crime of rape or other degree of
sexual assault.
There's no reason why you should be confused in distinguishing rape
from other forms of sexual assaults. Rape always requires vaginal
intercourse. You may be thinking, "What about attempted rape?"
Sustaining an allegation of attempted rape is more difficult than
attempts to commit other crimes.
In a robbery, for instance, the robber points a gun at a woman and
states, "Give me your money." A police car rolls around the corner,
and the robber flees, before any further interaction between the victim
and suspect has a chance to occur. It's obvious that a threat of force
was present. It's equally obvious that the suspect intended to rob the
victim.
In a situation where the suspect intends to rape or sexually assault a
victim, the verbal communication of a suspect's intent cannot be taken
as literally as in the robbery example. Using the same example, the
suspect points the gun at the woman and states, "Get in the alley and
take off your clothes." You might be saying, "His intent sounds pretty
clear to me." Well, what do you think he's going to do? Is he going to
rape the woman? Is he going to commit some other form of sexual
assault? Is the victim wearing some expensive item of clothing which
the suspect intends to steal? Is the suspect going to rob the victim
leaving her in a situation that will delay her attempt to summon help?
Here's where you come around the corner, and the suspect flees, so
you'll never really know.
While it's logical to believe your suspect in the second example did
intend some form of sexual assault, you'll never be able to prove what,
if any, kind of sexual assault he intended to commit. While most forms
of sexual assaults can occur quickly and with little effort by the suspect,
rape is different. That's why attempted rape will always require a "close
proximity to success" requirement.
Let's go back to our example. You come around the corner, and you
hear a woman screaming. You look into the alley where you see the
woman lying on her back. She is nude from the waist down, and the
suspect is on his knees between the woman's legs. The suspect is fully
clothed, but it's clear that he is committing a sexual assault. He's so
engrossed in his activity that he doesn't even hear you running up
behind him. You grab his shoulder and pull him backward and on down
on his back. You immediately notice that his penis is protruding from
the front of his pants, and it is fully erect. His erection is quickly
lost...probably because he's looking down the barrel of your pistol.
When it comes to sustaining a charge of attempted rape, this is as good
as it gets. It would strain the imagination to believe that the suspect did
not intend to achieve vaginal penetration with his erect penis. While
your sudden arrival prevented the victim from suffering the trauma of
being raped, the suspect would face the same consequences he would
face if he'd actually committed the crime of rape.
Let's try this another way. The suspect only gets as far as telling the
woman to take off her clothes. You chase and apprehend the suspect.
With what will you charge the suspect? You'll charge him with assault
for pointing the gun at the victim. During your investigation, you find
that the suspect was convicted for a previous robbery where he made the
identical statement to that victim. Can you charge him with attempted
robbery. No. That was then, this is now, but it does tell you that his
intent probably did not involve any intention to commit rape or other
sexual assault. Let's say the suspect's previous conviction was for rape.
The same standard applies, you only have what you have. However, the
suspect's previous conviction for rape under the same circumstances will
encourage the prosecutor to vigorously prosecute the suspect for the
assault [pointing the handgun] which is no small matter.
There's no question that investigating allegations of rape and sexual
assaults can be a lot more difficult than other types of crimes. While
the commission of some sex crimes will be obvious, others will not be so
obvious. Let's go from your experience with the rapist in the alley to
where you're sent to a home for a report of a rape. You enter a well
kept home where a woman exhibiting obvious intelligence tells you
she'd been raped by her husband. She explains that she and her
husband have been discussing separation for the past three months,
and, during that time, no sexual contact was occurring.
As the woman explains the incident you take note that the alleged
victim does not display any obvious signs of being physically assaulted.
Your continued observations within the home reveal no evidence of any
violent activity. The victim alleges that several hours earlier, her
husband pointed a handgun at her and demanded sexual intercourse
which he completed before leaving the home.
Initially, things are pretty simple in this example. You locate the actual
crime scene and ensure that any physical evidence is preserved such as
bed sheets upon which the intercourse allegedly took place. Remember,
the victim told you there'd been no sexual contact for the past three
months. Once you establish that the victim and suspect had been
sleeping apart, the presence of physical evidence identifying the suspect
would be more significant. However, the fact that the suspect resides in
the home lowers that level of significance.
During your interview, you learn that the handgun allegedly used is still
on the premises. The victim directs you to a bedroom closet, and she
points to the top shelf. With your flashlight in hand, you find
something to stand on to bring you to eye level with the top shelf. You
spot a manufacturers box used to package a revolver as described by the
victim. As you closely examine the box, you immediately begin to have
doubts. No home, no matter how well kept, is free of dust. From every
angle of your observations, it doesn't appear that the box has been
accessed in some time. Of course...the box could be empty. Very
carefully, you raise the lid only to find that the gun is inside the box.
The gun is well oiled, and you can't observe any visible fingerprints on
the gun. At this point, you've determined that if a gun was used, this
was not the gun. You stop your examination at this point, because you
want the box photographed in place and its collection done my your
crime lab.
The victim's account of the alleged rape has been seriously damaged.
That's not to say that a rape didn't occur. This victim could have thrown
in the gun part just to strengthen the forcible part of the offense.
You'll learn that victims, or alleged victims, of sexual assaults may
embellish...particularly when the suspect is known to the victim.
Needless to say, this example of an alleged rape could end up requiring a
lot of investigation.
Always keep an open mind. People have sex on their minds all the time
for one reason or another, and sex will always be the biggest complicator
you can imagine. When it comes to sex crimes, its complication factor
increases dramatically.
The open mind advice is more important than ever before. When I
began my police career, rapes and sexual assaults were just as serious as
they are today, but attitudes were much different. Rape and sexual
assault victims have always had advocates, but the advocates of the past
considered the involvement of police and the criminal justice system as
a measure of -- absolute -- last resort. The experts of the past viewed
police involvement and the process of prosecution as just another form
of rape for the victim.
How things do change. Today, nearly all the high profile advocates for
sex crimes victims haven't yet met an alleged victim who hasn't been
raped or sexually assaulted. With the advent of cable news and the 24
hour news cycle, you can find these sex crimes victims' advocate experts
everywhere. Unlike the advocates of the past, the new advocates
demand that the full weight of the criminal justice system must descend
upon every man accused of a sexual assault...or at least those men who
they identify as rapists and sexual predators. To be fair, there are
advocates who are genuinely fair minded, and their foremost interest is
in learning facts no matter where those facts may lead. You just won't
run into many of those types in the pecking order.
When you begin your police career as a patrol officer, your involvement
in rape investigations may be severely limited while you'll be expected
to fully investigate other forms of sexual assaults. If you join a police
department which requires you to immediately notify a rape or sex
crimes detective whenever a woman alleges rape (forcible vaginal
intercourse), you may think your department takes the crime of rape
very seriously. While that may be true, rape is one of the eight Part
One Crimes which is used to measure the instances of crimes and the
effectiveness of a police department's crime fighting efforts. In other
words, if a police department has a high number of rapes...that's bad. If
the number is low...that's good. Coincidentally, in police departments
where the investigations of rapes are tightly controlled through
supposedly highly trained specialized investigators, you'll find that
instances of rape remain pretty low.
The truth is this. When it comes to sex crimes, you've got to
immediately train yourself to treat the allegation of a sex crime just as
seriously as any other crime. When you find yourself tasked with the
preliminary investigation of rape or any other kind of sexual assault,
you must suppress any personal prejudices you may have. As a police
officer, you are the first line of defense for everyone...victims as well as
persons wrongly accused of committing crimes.
| Copyright © 2006 - 2008 - Barry M. Baker - CareerPoliceOfficer.com |
| Disclaimer |
| CareerPoliceOfficer.com is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. Links are provided only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by this site. |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |