If you have been charged with sexual assault in Fort Worth or a surrounding area of Tarrant County, it will be enormously important for you to contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer. Convictions for sexual assault may result in a litany of serious consequences, including prison time, requirements to register as a sex offender, steep fines, and/or a negative on your career or personal relationships.
Keep in mind that allegations of sexual assault or sexual abuse can arise from a variety of situations and can often stem from false accusations. Defenses or other mitigating alleged offenders could be available to help you avoid a conviction for the charges against you. Therefore, it is essential to hire an experienced criminal defense attorney in the Tarrant County area who will identify the best legal strategy for your particular case.
Sexual Assault Defense Lawyer in Fort Worth, Arlington, Grapevine, Keller, Southlake, TX
If you were charged with sexual assault in Tarrant County, or any of the surrounding areas in Texas, including Arlington, Azle, Bedford, Benbrook, Blue Mound, Burleson, Colleyville, Crowley, Dalworthington Gardens, Edgecliff Village, Euless, Everman, Flower Mound, Forest Hill, Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Haltom City, Haslet, Hurst, Keller, Kennedale, Lakeside, Lake Worth, Mansfield, Newark, North Richland Hills, Pantego, Pelican Bay, Reno, Richland Hills, River Oaks, Saginaw, Sansom Park, Southlake, Trophy Club, Watauga, Westlake, Westover Hills, Westworth Village, or White Settlement, contact the Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy.
Attorney Richard McConathy is experienced in defending all kinds of sex crime allegations and will make every effort to help you achieve the most desirable outcome for your particular situation. Call our firm for a consultation at (817) 422-5350 about your sexual assault allegations.
Sexual Assault Charges in Tarrant County
A person commits a sexual assault offense under Texas Penal Code § 22.011 if they intentionally or knowingly cause the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of another person by any means, without that person’s consent; cause the penetration of the mouth of another person by the sexual organ of the alleged offender, without that person’s consent; or cause the sexual organ of another person, without that person’s consent, to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the alleged offender; or regardless of whether the person knows the age of the child at the time of the offense, the person intentionally or knowingly causes the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of a child by any means; causes the penetration of the mouth of a child by the sexual organ of the alleged offender; causes the sexual organ of a child to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the alleged offender; causes the anus of a child to contact the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the alleged offender; or causes the mouth of a child to contact the anus or sexual organ of another person, including the alleged offender.
A sexual assault is without the consent of the other person if:
- the alleged offender compels the other person to submit or participate by the use of physical force, violence, or coercion;
- the alleged offender compels the other person to submit or participate by threatening to use force or violence against the other person or to cause harm to the other person, and the other person believes that the alleged offender has the present ability to execute the threat;
- the other person has not consented and the alleged offender knows the other person is unconscious or physically unable to resist;
- the alleged offender knows that as a result of a mental disease or defect the other person is at the time of the sexual assault incapable either of appraising the nature of the act or of resisting it;
- the other person has not consented and the alleged offender knows the other person is unaware that the sexual assault is occurring;
- the alleged offender has intentionally impaired the other person’s power to appraise or control the other person’s conduct by administering any substance without the other person’s knowledge;
- the alleged offender compels the other person to submit or participate by threatening to use force or violence against any person, and the other person believes that the alleged offender has the ability to execute the threat;
- the alleged offender is a public servant who coerces the other person to submit or participate;
- the alleged offender is a mental health services provider or a health care services provider who causes the other person, who is a patient or former patient of the alleged offender, to submit or participate by exploiting the other person’s emotional dependency on the alleged offender;
- the alleged offender is a clergyman who causes the other person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person’s emotional dependency on the clergyman in the clergyman’s professional character as a spiritual adviser;
- the alleged offender is an employee of a facility where the other person is a resident, unless the employee and resident are formally or informally married to each other under Chapter 2, Family Code;
- the alleged offender is a health care services provider who, in the course of performing an assisted reproduction procedure on the other person, uses human reproductive material from a donor knowing that the other person has not expressly consented to the use of material from that donor;
- the alleged offender is a coach or tutor who causes the other person to submit or participate by using the alleged offender’s power or influence to exploit the other person’s dependency on the alleged offender; or
- the alleged offender is a caregiver hired to assist the other person with activities of daily life and causes the other person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person’s dependency on the alleged offender.
Sexual Assault Penalties in Fort Worth
A sexual assault offense is usually punishable as a second-degree felony, which can result in a prison sentence of up to 20 years and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
Sexual assault can instead be a first-degree felony if a person whom the alleged offender was prohibited from marrying or purporting to marry or with whom the alleged offender was prohibited from living under the appearance of being married under Texas Penal Code § 25.01; or a person with whom the alleged offender was prohibited from engaging in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual intercourse under Texas Penal Code § 25.02. This degree of offense can result in a prison sentence of up to 99 years or life imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
It is a state jail felony if the offense is committed under Texas Penal Code § 22.011(a)(1) (causing the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of another person by any means, without that person’s consent) and the alleged offender had not received express consent as described by Texas Penal Code § 22.011(b)(12) (the alleged offender is a health care services provider who, in the course of performing an assisted reproduction procedure on the other person, uses human reproductive material from a donor knowing that the other person has not expressly consented to the use of material from that donor).
Additionally, according to Chapter 62 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, anyone who has been convicted of a sexual assault offense is required to register as a sex offender for life with their local law enforcement authority.
Tarrant County Sexual Assault Resources
The Laws In Your State: Texas | RAINN — RAINN is the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network and is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. Visit this website to learn more about rape and sexual assault crime definitions, consent, and mandatory reporting. You can also find information about criminal statutes of limitations, termination of rapists’ parental rights, and confidentiality laws.
A Legal Resource About Sexual Assault | Texas Law Help — This article provides information on civil suits and survivors’ rights and is excerpted in whole from a pamphlet by Texas Association Against Sexual Assault. Find information about survivor’s rights, including the rights to make the decision whether to file a police report or information report, be provided with written notice of crime victims’ rights and information and referrals, including a referral to a sexual assault program, at initial contact with law enforcement, sensitive and skilled treatment in texas emergency rooms, refuse to take a lie detector test, use a pseudonym and have her or his name, address and phone number kept out of court files relating to their case, reimbursement, through the crime victims’ compensation program, for financial losses resulting from the criminal conduct, including medical costs, moving costs and lost wages, have her or his attacker tested for hiv and receive notice of the test results after indictment, have her or his safety considered when bail is set, be notified of all legal proceedings, including parole proceedings, after making a written request for notification, a private waiting area, separate from other witnesses, before testifying in court, write a victim impact statement and have the statement considered during punishment and parole proceedings, and upon meeting certain eligibility requirements, maintain a confidential address through the texas address confidentiality program. As the website notes with the statute of limitations, felony indictments have no time limits when they involve continuous sexual abuse of a young child/children, aggravated sexual assault of a child, sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child, or sexual assault of an adult if DNA evidence is present, and there is a limit of 20 years for sexual performance by a child, aggravated kidnapping with intent to commit sexual offense, and burglary of a habitation with intent to commit sexual offense, but sexual assault of an adult or aggravated sexual assault of an adult must be presented within 10 years.
Find A Tarrant County Defense Attorney for Sexual Assault | Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy
Contact us today for a consultation about your accusations of sexual assault in Tarrant County in Texas. Richard McConathy is an experienced Dallas sex crime lawyer who will make every effort to help you avoid the most serious punishments and consequences of your alleged offense.
Call the Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy at (817) 422-5350 or contact us online for a consultation about your alleged sexual assault offense throughout Tarrant County in Texas and the surrounding counties of Dallas County, Collin County, and Denton County.