New answers tagged assault
3
Bottom line: Whether it's rape depends on the state, but its certainly a serious crime that'll carry a serious punishment.
Under English common law, rape necessitated carnal knowledge (penis in vagina). Most states have expanded their definitions to include other forms of penetration. The dry humping you speak of wouldn't include penetration, so in many ...
9
Most states have two parallel sets of sexual assault statutes. One set punishes sexual assaults involving sexual penetration that has greater penalties. The other set punishes sexual assaults involving sexual contact without sexual penetration that has smaller penalties but otherwise the same elements of the offense.
Usually, almost every offense which is a ...
5
Generally speaking, under US law, the victim or alleged victim of a crime cannot force a prosecution. Police and prosecutors have wide discretion on which crimes to prosecute. Even if it is clear that a crime has been committed, there is usually no right to have police or court action. If officials think that the public interest (or their own interests) ...
8
There's always civil action possible; "assault and battery" has a civil variant as an "intentional tort"
Civil assault and battery are torts. A tort is a wrong committed by one person against another, causing damage. Specifically, civil assault and battery are intentional torts. [...]
Intentional torts are torts that are committed on ...
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