Criminal Defense Lawyers

NY Penal Law § 130.96: Predatory Sexual Assault Against a Child

This is described in New York Penal Code § 130.96 as a criminal offense that involves committing one of these crimes:

1. criminal sexual act in the first degree, 
2. rape in the first degree, 
3. aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree, or 
4. course of sexual conduct against a child who is younger than 13 years old, and you are at least 18 years old. 

As predatory sexual assault against a child is one of the most egregious sex crimes, it is one of the only two sex crime that are grouped with the class A-II felonies.

An Example

A 12 year old boy confessed to his teacher that over the course of the prior 12 month period, a grown man had been engaging in anal sex with him. He also confided that the same man had been touching his genitals repeatedly  since he was 6 years old. Since he was accused of the crimes of criminal sexual act in the first degree and also course of sexual conduct against a child and the child was under the age of 13, the man could face prosecution for predatory sexual assault against a child on top of the criminal sexual assault and course of sexual conduct against a child charges.

Offenses that are Related

Aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree: New York Penal Code § 130.70

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2024-03-21

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2024-03-18

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2024-03-18

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2024-03-15

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2024-03-15

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2024-03-12

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2024-03-12

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2024-02-28

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2024-02-24

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Course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree: New York Penal code § 130.75

Rape in the first degree: New York Penal Code § 130.35

Criminal sexual act in the first degree: New York Penal Code § 130.50

Possible Defenses

Defenses against a charge of predatory sexual assault would have to dispel the damning elements of the underlying sex crime. For instance, if you are facing allegations of criminal sexual abuse in the first degree based on having anal sex with a child, a valid defense would be to demonsstrate that you never engaged in anal sex with the child, or that the child was over the age of 13.

The Sentence

If you get convicted of the crime of predatory sexual assault against a child, you would be sent to prison for the rest of your life. If there are one or more prior felony convictions on your record, the minimum number of years on your prison sentence is 15-25 years. On the other hand, if you do not have a prior criminal history, the minimum prison term is 10-20 years.

In the wake of a conviction of predatory sexual assault against a child, you will become a registered sex offender under the New York Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA). What this means is that your personal information and details about your crimes will be held in a special database that is maintained by law enforcement wherever you live. You will be obligated to regularly verify and update these details. The law requires that you live by these requirements for a minimum of 20 years or, in some cases,  for the rest of your life