First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct

The following are the elements that must be shown by the state in order to charge the accused with First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct; under MCL 750.5620b.

A person is guilty of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the First Degree if he or she engages in sexual penetration with another person and if any of the following circumstances exists:

(a) That other person is under 13 years of age.

(b) That other person is at least 13 but less than 16 years of age and any of the following:

• You are a member of the same household.
• You are related to the accuser by blood or affinity.
• You are in a position of authority over the accuser and use this authority to coerce the accuser to submit.
• You are a teacher, substitute teacher, or administrator of the public school, nonpublic school, school district, or intermediate school district in which that other person is enrolled.
• You are an employee or a contractual service provider of the public school, nonpublic school, school district, or intermediate school district in which that other person is enrolled.
• You are an employee, contractual service provider, or volunteer of a child care organization, or a person licensed to operate a foster family home in which that other person is a resident, and the sexual penetration occurs during the period of that other person’s residency.

(c) Sexual penetration occurs under circumstances involving the commission of any other felony.

(d) The actor is aided or abetted by 1 or more other persons and either of the following circumstances exists:

• You know or have reason to believe that the accuser is mentally incapable, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless.
• You used force or coercion to accomplish the sexual penetration.

(e) The actor is armed with a weapon or any article used or fashioned in manner to lead the accuser to reasonably believe it to be a weapon.

(f) The actor causes personal injury to the accuser and force or coercion is used to accomplish sexual penetration. Force or coercion includes, but is not limited to, any of the following circumstances:

• (i) When the actor overcomes the accuser through the actual application of physical force or physical violence.
• (ii) When the actor coerces the accuser to submit by threatening to use force or violence on the accuser, and the accuser believes that the actor has the present ability to execute these threats.
• (iii) When the actor coerces the accuser to submit by threatening to retaliate in the future against the accuser, or any other person, and the accuser believes that the actor can execute this threat. As used in this subdivision, “to retaliate” includes threats of physical punishment, kidnapping, or extortion.
• (iv) When the actor engages in the medical treatment or examination of the accuser in a manner or for purposes that are medically recognized as unethical or unacceptable.
• (v) When the actor, through concealment or by the element of surprise, can overcome the accuser.

(g) The actor causes personal injury to the accuser, and the actor knows or has reason to know that the accuser is mentally incapable, mentally incapacitated or physically helpless.

(h) That other person is mentally incapable, mentally disabled, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless, and any of the following:

• (i) The actor is related to the accuser by blood or affinity to the fourth degree.
• (ii) The actor is in a position of authority over the accuser and used this authority to coerce the accuser to submit.

(See a further discussion of all the elements and what they mean below)

PENALTY
FIRST DEGREE CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT

The penalty for First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct are the harshest penalties that exist under the law. Your entire life will change forever if you plea or are found guilty of First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. Below are the potential penalties. Once you read the possible penalties you will see why it is imperative to have Blank Law, PC fighting for you and your future. The last thing you want to do is put a dollar amount on your freedom. When it comes to the biggest heavyweight fight of your life, you can NOT cut corners. Blank Law, PC is beyond qualified to fight this fight with their eyes closed, this is what they do and what they know!

First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct is punishable by up to life in prison or any term of years. For a violation that is committed by a person 17 years of age or older against a person less than 13 years of age the toughest penalty exists, a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years applies.

The court may order a term of imprisonment to be served consecutively (one after the other) to any term of imprisonment imposed for any other criminal offenses arising from the same transaction.

An accused convicted of First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct is subject to Lifetime Electronic Monitoring (tether), even if the offense was nonviolent and even if it was the first offense. Therefore, once you have completed a prison sentence for a First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct charge, you will be required to wear an Electronic Monitoring Device ( tether) for the rest of your life.

First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct is a felony offense under MCL 750.520b.

(See below for further discussions about the elements of CSC 1st Degree)

DEFENSE
FIRST DEGREE CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT

There is no defense of, “I thought she was older”, “She said she was 16 years old” or “The website I met her on said you had to be 18 to be on it!”. It is your responsibility, and your responsibility only, to confirm, check and confirm again, the age of someone you chose to be intimate with. This falls solely on you, the adult.

There may be other defenses, but they are case specific.

COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT
FIRST DEGREE CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT

I BARELY PUT MY FINGER IN HER VAGINA – WHY AM I CHARGED WITH FIRST DEGREE CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT?

This question comes up all the time. Oftentimes, if the accuser has already gone and talked to the police, the police will have you trace your hand, or trace his hand, and then ask you to show him/her exactly what part of your finger went into his/her vagina or anus. The accused believes, “Well, if I just show it was the tip, I am not going to get into that much trouble.” NOT TRUE.

For First Degree (and Third Degree) Criminal Sexual Assault, “any entry, no matter how slight, is enough”. In other words, if your finger, tongue, genitalia, any part of your body or any other object enters, “no matter how slight”, the accuser’s mouth, genital organs, anal opening, or genital opening, and the accuser is under the age of 13, you can be charged with First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct.

If the same occurs with an accuser who is 13, 14, or 15 and one of the above circumstances listed applies, you can be charged with First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct.

WHY AM I BEING INVESTIGATED WHEN THE ACCUSER CANNOT EVEN REMEMBER WHAT DAY ANY OF THE ALLEGATIONS OCCURRED ON?

Time is not an element of ANY Criminal Sexual Conduct offense. Under the law in Michigan, the accuser doesn’t have to specify a time and/or an exact date of the alleged allegations. While the age of the accuser is important to figure out what degree of criminal sexual conduct should be investigated and charged, time in general is NOT a necessary fact needed for an investigation/prosecution to move forward.

If WE ONLY HAD SEX THREE (3) TIMES, THE SAME NIGHT, WHY AM I CHARGED WITH THREE (3) SEPERATE CHARGES OF FIRST DEGREE CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT?

In enacting the first-degree criminal sexual conduct statute, the legislature intended to authorize separate punishment for each sexual penetration that occurs. Therefore, if you engaged in sexual penetration (sex) three times in one night, legally you can be charged, convicted and punished for 3 seperate counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the First Degree. In Blank Law, PC’s experience the state does not often charge this way. However, when it comes to what the accused may be sentenced to, the state may make a point to inform Blank Law, PC about the possibility of consecutive sentencing. (See below for an explanation of consecutive sentencing) .

IF I GAVE THE ACCUSER CUNNILINGUS AND NO OTHER PART OF MY BODY WENT INSIDE HER, DOESN’T THERE HAVE TO BE ANOTHER FORM OF PENETRATION?

Cunnilingus and fellatio are presumed to be a First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct, and require no separate proof of any intrusion.

BLANK LAW, PC EXAMPLES
FIRST DEGREE CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT

If the accused (1) caused personal injury to the accuser, (2) engaged in sexual penetration with the accuser, and (3) used force or coercion to accomplish the sexual penetration, the accused can be charged with First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct.

First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct is a crime of general intent ; where the state charges the accused based on the use of force or coercion for sexual penetration resulting in personal injury to the accuser, proof of specific intent to cause the bodily injury or mental anguish is not required.

The beating of the accuser immediately before a series of sexual penetrations by the accused supplies the element of personal injury necessary for the charge of First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct for each penetration where the beatings and the penetration were part of one continuous episode.

The fact that an armed accused loses his weapon at some point before sexual penetration occurs will not prevent him/her from being convicted of First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct; it is enough that the accused had the weapon when the assault began.

Time is not an element of a sexual assault offense.