Ocean City Date Rape Penalties

In Ocean City, date rape is not charged under a separate statute from rape charges. It is considered an alternative way that the crime is committed. Common, reoccurring fact patterns usually include those that show that the accuser was incapacitated or otherwise physically unable to consent to the events in question.

Whether or not it was a rape by force by a stranger, by an acquaintance, or if the individual was incapacitated by alcohol is extraneous to the exact offense, offenses like this are charged as second-degree rape. The consequences of a conviction are severe, and an Ocean City date rape lawyer will be an invaluable asset should you be facing or are expecting to face charges of this nature.

Sentencing

The same penalty for an Ocean City date rape offense would apply to all second-degree rape. This means that the maximum penalty would be 20 years in prison. That is the maximum that the court could impose, but it is important for a defendant to understand that there are a lot of different factors that will be taken into consideration.

A second-degree rape charge is a felony, which means that a judge, when considering an appropriate sentence, must consider the sentencing guidelines. Sentencing guidelines apply to felony charges. They are a matrix, which factors in specifics about the offender and the offense. The more serious the offense, the more severe the guidelines recommendation. While sentencing guidelines are discretionary, the judge must explain the decision to deviate from the guidelines recommendation.

Sex Offender Registry

One of the larger penalties following an Ocean City date rape conviction is registration on a sex offender registry. If a person is convicted of such a crime, and depending on the conviction, the person may end up having to register for the rest of their life. The shorter but not insignificant second option is that they may need to end up registering for a period of 10 years.

It is a significant period of time and can be an onerous burden on the defendant, because they have to check in, re-register, and notify the registering agency for everything, including if they are going to move. In addition, they are required to report where they are. As a result of the frequent check-ins and constant updates required, it can be a lot and an individual can get in trouble and even be charged with violating the registry as a completely separate offense.

For a lot of individuals, that is the worst part, because even after they have served their prison sentence and paid any mandatory fines, they have to register and that stays with them. People can actually go to a website, search, and see if there are sex offenders that live within a certain geographical radius of them. Because of the long-term social stigma, the consequences of being on the sex offender registry are sometimes greater than the jail time itself.

Contacting an Attorney

People do not always understand what the law is, they do not realize that it is a rape if the alleged victim was so intoxicated that they could not give a defense. Some people do not understand what the law entails. People, too, are operating under the false impression that if they tell the police what happened and make them understand it, that it does not qualify as rape. Many times, people do not realize that by doing this, they have confessed to a crime and did not even know it.

Individuals need to understand too that if a police officer is reaching out to you and asking you to come in and talk, that means the police has already been working on the investigation for days and they have spoken to other people and they have collected evidence and they have in their minds an understanding of what happened and all they are waiting for is for a suspect to make a statement or say something that is inconsistent with the evidence and that is it, they are not really calling you because they are in an information-gathering stage. Often people do not understand what they are walking into. The Ocean City date rape penalties can be severe, so it is essential to have the help of an attorney at this stage to defend against these types of statements.