Massachusetts Criminal Defense Attorney Blog
The Boston Globe recently reported that a girls basketball coach at the Melrose YMCA was arrested and charged with rape and indecent assault and battery on a child under fourteen. According to the Boston Globe, the Middlesex County District Attorney alleges that the Reading defendant, “. . . over the course of a number of years, violated the trust placed in him as a coach of young girls and sexually assaulted this young victim.” The North Reading Police Chief stated that, “Because of the way that the suspect operated, our investigators are concerned that there could be additional victims who have not yet come forward.” The Reading resident was arraigned in the Woburn district court. However, the Middlesex County Grand Jury will likely indict the defendant and the case will proceed through the Middlesex Superior Court now located in Woburn, MA.
The maximum penalty for the crime of rape [M.G.L.A. 265 § 22] is life in prison. In order for the District Attorney to prove someone guilty of rape, it must prove that the defendant compelled another to have intercourse by force against an individual’s will or compelled by threat of bodily injury. Although the crime of rape in Massachusetts is a crime of violence, the force used to accomplish the rape need not be physical force. Additionally, in certain circumstances the force necessary for the District Attorney to prove rape may be constructive force as well as physical force, violence, or threat of bodily harm. However, if Commonwealth relies on constructive force it must also prove that sexual intercourse was against the victim’s will.
The maximum sentence for a defendant who is convicted for indecent assault and battery on a child under fourteen [M.G.L.A. 265 § 13B ] for the first time is two and one half years in jail or ten years in state prison. For proceedings under this statute, a person under fourteen years of age is considered incapable of consenting to the conduct of the defendant.
In Massachusetts, a touching is considered indecent when the conduct of the defendant violates social and behavioural expectations to such a degree that A touching is indecent, within meaning of statute governing indecent assault and battery, when, judged by the normative standard of societal mores, violates social and behavioural expectations, in a manner which is fundamentally offensive to moral values and which the common sense of society would regard as immodest, immoral and improper.
If you have been charged in Massachusetts with rape, indecent assault and battery or any other sexual offense it is imperative that you contact an experienced defense attorney as soon as possible. A conviction for a sexual offense can, in certain situations, result in a defendant being required to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts. Offenses that may require registration as a sex offender are not limited to rape and indecent assault and battery. Depending on the circumstances, crimes such as indecent exposure and annoying and accosting a person of the opposite sex may require you to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts. Failure to register as a sexual offender is a separate crime in and of itself.
If you are charged with a sexual offense in Brighton, Haverhill, Woburn, Peabody, Lawrence or Salem contact Our Attorney.