Consent is essential for sexual activity says Virginia criminal attorney

Consent spells the difference between a crime and no crime, says Fairfax criminal attorney

Consent is necessary for any sexual activity. As a Virginia criminal attorney, I know that mutually consensual private adult sexual activity generally is protected as lawful. Failing to obtain consent can be fatal.

Consent is not defined by absence of resistance nor of oral protest

Whether consent exists for sexual activity depends on the totality of circumstances. Unfortunately, as a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that casual sexual activity between people who do not know each other well can increase the risk of a criminal prosecution, whether or not the accuser is lying. A sexual partner who finds out that an interlude was only a one-nighter when that partner wanted more, might make a false accusation of sexual assault. The same goes for a sexual partner who hears his or her partner call him or her by someone else’s name, or who finds out that the accusee filmed their sexual activity without consent, bragged about their liaison to friends, ridiculed the accuser (whether saying it was a two-bagger date or otherwise), or simply chalked the encounter off as one more fling no more meaningful than trying a new ice cream flavor at Baskin Robbins.

Fairfax criminal lawyer says that casual sexual activity is riskier than in a longterm relationship

Not out of any prudishness do I underline the obvious that the risk of a false accusation of sexual assault/ no consent increases when a person engages in sexual activity with someone s/he knows very little and with whom s/he plans to only have one or two encounters.

The Virginia Court of Appeals affirms a sexual assault conviction where force and complaint were mainly absent

Last month, the Virginia Court of Appeals affirmed the object sexual penetration conviction (digital penetration of the complainant’s vagina) of Jeffrey Dean Bondi, where there was no allegation that the victim made any protests of no consent other than ultimately trying to leave when Bondi had fallen asleep, and where no allegation of physical force was made other than that he then grabbed her by the arm, pulled her in the same position, and told her to stay. Bondi v. Virginia, ___ Va. App. ___ (March 26, 2019).

In Virginia, object sexual penetration is a felony carrying up to life in prison

Object sexual penetration is incarcerable up to life in prison in Virginia, and is defined as penetration when “The act is accomplished against the will of the complaining witness, by force, threat or intimidation of or against the complaining witness or another person, or through the use of the complaining witness’s mental incapacity or physical helplessness.” Va. Code § 18.2-67.2. Absence of consent means that the penetration should not be engaged in.

Virginia criminal attorney Jonathan L. Katz pursues your best defense against prosecutions alleging sexual, felony, misdemeanor, DUI and drug/marijuana offenses. To discuss your case with Jon Katz, please call his staff at 703-383-1100 to schedule a confidential consultation.