When an individual touches an intimate part on his or her “intimate partner” against that partner’s will for his or her own sexual gratification or arousal, or as an act of sexual abuse, he or she may be charged with sexual battery as a California crime of domestic violence. One’s gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender intimate partner may be the person with whom he or she has children, the person with whom he or she lives or lived, the person whom he or she is or was dating or the person to whom one is or was civilly united.

If convicted of a sexual battery as an intimate partner abuse crime, the consequences are serious. Depending on the circumstances that surrounded the charged incident, the accused may face a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and up to a $2,000 fine or a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Aggravating factors, however, will invite an even stiffer sentence.

Aggravating factors are facts or circumstances that took place at the time of the alleged incident that make the crime seem even more dangerous or inexcusable and usually lead to the strictest available sentence. This is one of the reasons why it is so important for the accused to hire a skilled California domestic violence attorney as soon after his or her arrest as possible. An experienced lawyer knows what evidence and mitigating facts are likely to persuade a judge to keep any jail or prison time to a minimum.

Aggravating factors that are common in a sexual battery case include the accused and his or her accuser sharing an employer/employee relationship, a minor witnessing the battery and the accuser suffering a significant injury. In an effort to make sure that sexual harassment in the workplace is taken seriously, the legislature has decided that if the accused is the accuser’s employer, he or she may receive a fine of up to $3,000 if charged with a misdemeanor or may face a stiffer prison sentence if charged with a felony.

A second aggravating factor in a domestic abuse sexual battery case is when the accused either lives with or lived with the alleged victim or a minor (a person under 18), or the accused is a parent, stepparent, adoptive parent, foster parent, or other blood relative of the minor, and the alleged abuse occurred in the presence of or was witnessed by that minor.

Finally, in addition to the aggravating factors just described, the consequences of a conviction for sexual battery may also be more severe if, as a result of the abuse, the accuser suffered a significant or substantial physical injury. This is the most severe of the aggravating circumstances. If the accusing intimate partner sustained this type of “great bodily injury,” the accused faces an additional three to five years in state prison. This means that an individual who is convicted of sexual battery in a case where the victim was seriously injured faces up to nine total years in prison.

With offices in Los Angeles and throughout California, the GLBT supportive attorneys at the Kavinoky Law Firm specialize in California DV crimes and know how to successfully defeat the types of sentences that aggravating factors invite. They also understand the uphill battle that a non-heterosexual client may face being charged with a same sex crime in a judicial system that is unfortunately plagued by intolerance and fear towards anyone who is identified as being “different” and will do their best to make sure that such a client is treated with the utmost compassion and respect and that he or she receives a fair trial based on a vigorous defense. For legal advice about a sexual battery charge, contact the Law Offices of Darren Kavinoky today for a free consultation.