Sexual Assault

If you have been charged with sexual assault in Dallas County, it is very important to contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer. A conviction for sexual assault can result in very serious consequences, including prison time, requirements to register as a sex offender, steep fines, and/or a negative on your career or personal relationships.

Allegations of sexual assault or sexual abuse may arise from a variety of situations and can often stem from false accusations. Defenses or other mitigating factors may be available to help you avoid a conviction for the charges against you. Therefore, it is essential to hire an experienced criminal defense attorney in the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex who will identify your best legal strategy for your particular case.

Sexual Assault Defense Lawyer in Irving, Dallas, Carrolton, Richardson, TX

If you have been charged with sexual assault in Dallas, Attorney Richard McConathy will make every effort to help you avoid the penalties and repercussions of your alleged offense.

Contact the Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy today at (972) 233-5700 for a consultation about your alleged offense in Irving, Dallas, Carrolton, Richardson, and surrounding areas of Dallas County, Texas. Our firm will work to potentially get your criminal charges reduced or dismissed.

Dallas Sexual Assault

A person commits a sexual assault offense under Texas Penal Code § 22.011 when they intentionally or knowingly cause the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of another person by any means, without that person’s consent; cause the penetration of the mouth of another person by the sexual organ of the alleged offender, without that person’s consent; or cause the sexual organ of another person, without that person’s consent, to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the alleged offender; or regardless of whether the person knows the age of the child at the time of the offense, the person intentionally or knowingly causes the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of a child by any means; causes the penetration of the mouth of a child by the sexual organ of the alleged offender; causes the sexual organ of a child to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the alleged offender; causes the anus of a child to contact the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the alleged offender; or causes the mouth of a child to contact the anus or sexual organ of another person, including the alleged offender.

A sexual assault will be without the consent of another person if:

An alleged offender compels another person to submit or participate by the use of physical force, violence, or coercion;
An alleged offender compels another person to submit or participate by threatening to use force or violence against another person or to cause harm to another person, and another person believes that an alleged offender has the present ability to execute the threat;
Another person has not consented and an alleged offender knows another person is unconscious or physically unable to resist;
An alleged offender knows that as a result of mental disease or defect another person is at the time of the sexual assault incapable either of appraising the nature of the act or of resisting it;
Another person has not consented and an alleged offender knows another person is unaware that the sexual assault is occurring;
An alleged offender has intentionally impaired another person’s power to appraise or control another person’s conduct by administering any substance without another person’s knowledge;
An alleged offender compels another person to submit or participate by threatening to use force or violence against any person, and another person believes that an alleged offender has the ability to execute the threat;
An alleged offender is a public servant who coerces another person to submit or participate;
An alleged offender is a mental health services provider or a health care services provider who causes another person, who is a patient or former patient of an alleged offender, to submit or participate by exploiting another person’s emotional dependency on an alleged offender;
An alleged offender is a clergyman who causes another person to submit or participate by exploiting another person’s emotional dependency on the clergyman in the clergyman’s professional character as spiritual adviser;
An alleged offender is an employee of a facility where another person is a resident, unless the employee and resident are formally or informally married to each other under Chapter 2, Family Code;
An alleged offender is a health care services provider who, in the course of performing an assisted reproduction procedure on another person, uses human reproductive material from a donor knowing that another person has not expressly consented to the use of material from that donor;
An alleged offender is a coach or tutor who causes another person to submit or participate by using an alleged offender’s power or influence to exploit another person’s dependency on an alleged offender; or
An alleged offender is a caregiver hired to assist another person with activities of daily life and causes another person to submit or participate by exploiting another person’s dependency on an alleged offender.

An individual can be charged with sexual assault under Tex. Penal Code § 220.011 if they intentionally or knowingly commit any of the following acts:

Cause a child’s anus to contact the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person;
Cause a child’s mouth to be penetrated by the sexual organ of the alleged offender;
Cause a child’s mouth to contact the anus or sexual organ of another person;
Cause a child’s sexual organ to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person;
Cause the sexual organ of another person to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, without that person’s permission or consent;
Penetrate the anus or sex organ of another person by any means, without the other person’s consent; or
Penetrate the mouth of another person with the sexual organ of the alleged offender, without the other person’s consent.

Sexual Assault Consent in Dallas

For the purposes of sexual assault offenses, an individual does not have the consent of the other person if:

The alleged offender causes an individual to submit by threatening to use force or violence against the other person or any other person. The violence or force must apparently be able to occur;
The alleged offender causes an individual to submit through the use of violence or physical force;
The alleged offender has impaired the person that has not consented through the use of any substance without their knowledge and they have not previously consented;
The alleged offender is a clergyman who causes the non-consenting person to submit by exploiting their emotional dependency;
The alleged offender is a mental health services provider or health care services provider, such as a doctor or psychologist, who causes a patient or former patient to submit by exploiting their emotional dependency;
The alleged offender is a public servant, such as a police officer, who coerces or makes the person that has not consented to submit;
The alleged offender is an employee of a facility where the other person is a resident, except for married couples;
The person that has not consented has a mental disability or defect that prevents them from consenting;
The person that has not consented is physically unable to resist or is unconscious and has not previously consented; or
The person that has not consented is unaware the sexual act is occurring and has not previously consented.

Penalties in Dallas for Sexual Assault

A sexual assault offense is typically punishable as a second-degree felony, which may result in a prison sentence of up to 20 years and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

Sexual assault can also be a first-degree felony if a person whom the alleged offender was prohibited from marrying or purporting to marry or with whom the alleged offender was prohibited from living under the appearance of being married under Texas Penal Code § 25.01; or a person with whom the alleged offender was prohibited from engaging in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual intercourse under Texas Penal Code § 25.02. This offense may result in a prison sentence of up to 99 years or life imprisonment and/or a fine up to $10,000.

It is a state jail felony if an offense is committed under Texas Penal Code § 22.011(a)(1) (causing the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of another person by any means, without that person’s consent) and the alleged offender had not received express consent as described by Texas Penal Code § 22.011(b)(12) (the alleged offender is a health care services provider who, in the course of performing an assisted reproduction procedure on the other person, uses human reproductive material from a donor knowing that the other person has not expressly consented to the use of material from that donor).

Additionally, according to Chapter 62 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, anyone who has been convicted of a sexual assault offense must register as a sex offender for life with their local law enforcement authority.

Find a Dallas Sex Assault Attorney | Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy

Contact Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy today for a consultation about your alleged sexual assault throughout Dallas County in Texas. Richard McConathy is an aggressive sex crimes attorney in Dallas who will fight the allegations against you and make every effort to help you achieve the most desirable outcome for your particular situation.