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NY Penal Law § 130.65-a: Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the Fourth Degree
NY Penal Law § 130.65-a: Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the Fourth Degree
The definition provided by New York Penal Law for aggravated sexual abuse in the fourth degree is inserting a foreign object into another person’s vagina, urethra, penis, rectum or anus in a situation where that individual was not capable of consenting. The second basis for this crime is physically injuring another individual by inserting a finger into that person’s vagina, urethra, penis, rectum or anus of that person, also in a case where that person is not capable of consenting. The statute does not clearly define “foreign object.” Nonetheless, courts have seen a variety of items to be foreign objects including bottles, sticks, and knives.
Example
A man pushes a bottleneck into the rectum of a woman. The woman was intoxicated. the woman suffered, as a result, a severe tear in the tissue that divides her rectum and her vagina. This man could be prosecuted for aggravated sexual abuse due to the fact that the woman was intoxicated and therefore incapable of consenting to the sex act.
Other Offenses that are Related
Criminal sexual act in the third degree: New York Penal Code § 130.40
Rape in the third degree: New York Penal Code § 130.2
Persistent sexual abuse: New York Penal Code § 130.53
Possible Defenses
There are several possible defenses to charges of aggravated sexual abuse in the fourth degree. Because one of the critical elements to the charge is the victim’s inability to consent, demonstrating that the individual was not physically incapacitated, that the person did not suffer from a mental disability or incapacity at the time the incident took place, or that you did not employ forcible compulsion, then the prosecutor will have a hard time getting the conviction against you.
Another possible defense is absence of physical injury. Should you get accused of aggravated sexual abuse in the fourth degree based on inserting your finger into another person, that individual must have sustained a physical injury from the act in order to support such a charge.
Other possible defenses include medical necessity and statute of limitations.
The Sentence
In the event that get convicted of aggravated sexual abuse in the fourth degree, the maximum prison sentence the judge could give you is four years. No statutory mandatory minimum sentence exists. If this is your first offense the judge could possibly sentence you to a lot less than four years of incarceration. The sentence could be as minimal as a 10 year probation term. On the other hand, if you have a prior felony offense on your record, you could be looking at a mandatory minimum sentence of at least three years behind bars.
Like aggravated sexual abuse in the first, second and third degrees, aggravated sexual abuse in the fourth degree is a registrable offense under the New York Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA).
Conduct performed for a valid medical purpose does not violate the provisions of this section.