Norwalk Statutory Rape Allegations

Every jurisdiction in the state of Connecticut including Norwalk will prosecute statutory rape allegations very aggressively. They will not only pursue the charges and through the time of trial, if necessary, or to a plea deal with significant punishment, but they will also be very vigilant about making sure that the harm is not ongoing and the person is protected while the case is pending.

They will want to impose protective orders and other forms of orders that prohibit any contact with the accuser by the defendant while the case is pending in order to make sure that the accuser feels protected and feels comfortable and is ready to provide the evidence that the state will need in order to pursue the crimes that have been charged. If you are facing such charges, you should discuss the facts of your case with a distinguished statutory rape attorney.

Reporting an Incident

Statutory rape allegations in Norwalk can get reported by a person to law enforcement and that starts the case and the investigation. The other way a statutory rape allegations may occur is if the particular accuser did not necessarily tell them, but the third party nevertheless found out and decided to report that. This usually happens with a Romeo and Juliet clause situation where they are two young people involved in a sexual contact and are fully consenting, but perhaps a parent finds out by happenstance which then leads to a report to the police.

The parent may be upset that the person happens to be three years and a month older than their child and they feel it is inappropriate. Notwithstanding the fact that they were in an agreement of their relationship and the child did not have a problem with the relationship, the third party. In this case, the parent is against the young person’s wishes because they were upset about the circumstances that had taken place. It could be that somebody was afraid to disclose it, they knew it is wrong, and they want protection, or they were scared of disclosing this information because they were afraid of the perpetrator and therefore, it occurs in sometimes a measured and sometimes delayed manner.

Commonality of Third Party Accusations

Allegations for statutory rape in Norwalk usually come in as a sexual assault accusation by a third party. This occurs when dealing with young people. A lot of times a young person will not be comfortable disclosing this information themselves, so usually it has to come through a disclosure to another person such as a counselor, a teacher, a parent, or somebody that senses that something is wrong and has the trust of the particular minor that allows them to disclose the information to them.

Evidence of Intent and Consent

The type of evidence that is peculiar to sex cases could be bodily fluids and a difference in somebody’s intimate parts shortly after the sexual event occurred. These are things are important as evidence that would otherwise be completely irrelevant in any other case. Important information in Norwalk statutory rape allegations include the specific ages of people, what their relationships were to each other at the time, their birth certificates, and official ways of proving age.

It is important to note that the knowledge of whether the defendant knew that the person was under a particular age at the time is not relevant since it is called a strict liability crime. Either the person is under 16 or they are not, and it really does not matter what was said or what the accused knew.

Even if the person said they were 16 and the person had sex with them knowing that, it would probably make them liable for statutory rape but it turns out the person is actually over 16 then they have not committed the statutory rape but if on the other hand, they said they were 21 and the person happened to be under 16, it would be statutory rape notwithstanding the fact that the person might have a very good basis for believing that the person was actually over the age of 16 at that time.

Exceptions to Aggressive Prosecution

The only time where a prosecuting authority may be less aggressive is where the age of the accusers are very close and fall just outside of the statutory rape specifications. Under those kinds of circumstances, they may be a bit more understanding given the ages, the relationship, and the circumstances.

In many occasions their hands are tired because the laws are strictly written; they do not provide exceptions and discretion and there are mandatory minimums that generally must be adhered to and there is no room for deviation. There have been some changes to that but in terms of providing a little bit of discretion to the prosecuting authority or judge when the age of the accusers are closer or when they are both students in the same school but again that discretion is still very limited.