Sexual Assault & Sex Crimes

Sexual Assault (previously called Rape) is a very serious allegation that Wisconsin laws punish with severe penalties including fines, imprisonment, supervision, probation and sex offender registry and reporting. A sexual assault charge or any sex crime charge can and will impact a person's life, and the effects of such an allegation can last a lifetime. Every day, people are falsely accused of sex crimes involving adults and sexual assault of a minor child. And every day, people are charged, convicted, and imprisoned on false accusations. In part, the reason for false convictions is due to a society that is quick to blame; in part, false convictions occur when a sexual assault charge is improperly defended. At a recent seminar provided by the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, sexual assault defense attorney Christopher Van Wagner discussed those very topics in a presentation designed to teach other sexual assault criminal defense lawyers how to properly defend a sexual assault case.

Accused People Charged With Sexual Assault Can Stand Trial

Sexual assault trials often involve trying more than just the criminal charge. Criminal trials of sexual assault allegations place the victim and the accused face-to-face and bring out strong emotions on both sides. The criminal defense attorney must be extremely knowledgeable of Wisconsin sexual assault laws and quick to apply that knowledge to the facts at hand, as well as personable and trustworthy so that the jury will listen to him or her as the trial ensues and the prosecuting attorney presents evidence - sometimes overwhelming proof that a sexual assault has actually occured - along with emotional and sometimes tear-jerking testimony.

Sexual Assault Criminal Defense Attorney - Wisconsin

Van Wagner & Wood's sexual assault lawyers have handled many sexual assault cases of just that nature and won outright acquittals. Attorney Christopher Van Wagner & Attorney Tracey Wood, the founders of Van Wagner & Wood (Madison, Wisconsin) have never been the type of attorneys to avoid a great challenge; rather, they have won numerous acquittals for their clients.

If you are under investigation for a sexual assault or sex offense of any type, the best advice you could ever receive from a friend would be to contact a criminal defense attorney with extensive experience in defending people accused of sex crimes. We believe the attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood excel at handling sex crime defense. [See Contact A Sexual Assault Defense Attorney]

General Definition of Sexual Assault

A sexual assault is any contact of a sexual manner with another person without consent. A violent or serious sexual assault involves threat or use of force or violence. Sex crimes include obscene, sexually motivated, sexually oriented, or sexually purposed crimes, not the least of which include the ones listed below.

Date rape
Lewd & lascivious conduct - Indecent exposure
Sexual assault
Sexual harassment
Rape
Sexual assault of a child
Sexual Battery
Unwanted Physical Touching
Gang Rape

Note: Aside from "date rape", the term "rape" is seldom used in statutes today. Wisconsin law employs the term "sexual assault", rather than rape.

Wisconsin Sex Crimes Laws: Sexual Assault

Wisconsin law divides sex crimes into crimes against adults and crimes against minor children. Sex crimes against adults include rape (third degree below) to sexual gratification and public fornication to violent sexual assault (first degree below). In the adult category, Wisconsin law also includes adultery, bigamy, prostitution, pandering, and lewd & lascivious sexual behavior; at the extreme end of the violence meter, sex offenders. Criminal acts of a sexual nature include obscene materials & performance, unlawful obscene recordings that exploit, and child pornography, which is also included under sex crimes against children. Other sex crimes against children include enticement and solicitation (which has made headlines lately due to the nature of police entrapment methods to entice would be sex predators and offenders to commit a crime), sexual assault of a minor child, repeated acts of sexual assault of a minor child, and incest. Wisconsin law also includes provisions for probation after a sex crime conviction and lifetime supervision (as well as how to petition for termination of lifetime supervision).

First-degree Sexual Assault

Class B Felony

Wisconsins laws state that anyone who has sexual contact or sexual intercourse with another person without that person's consent and causes pregnancy or great bodily harm to that person, is guilty of a Class B felony.

Anyone who has sexual contact or sexual intercourse with another person without that persons consent by use or threat of use of a dangerous weapon or any article used or fashioned in a manner to lead the victim reasonably to believe it to be a dangerous weapon is guilty of a Class B felony.

Anyone who is aided or abetted by one or more other persons and has nonconsensual sexual contact or sexual intercourse with another person by use or threat of force or violence is guilty of a Class B felony. [See Felony - Misdemeanor Penalties Wisconsin]

Second-degree sexual assault

Class C Felony

Wisconsins laws state that anyone who has sexual contact or sexual intercourse with another person without that persons consent by use or threat of force or violence is guilty of a Class C felony.

Anyone who has sexual contact or sexual intercourse with another person without that persons consent and causes injury, illness, disease or impairment of a sexual or reproductive organ, or mental anguish requiring psychiatric care for the victim is guilty of a Class C felony.

Anyone who has sexual contact or sexual intercourse with another person who suffers from a mental illness or deficiency which renders that person temporarily or permanently incapable of appraising the persons conduct, or who is unconscious, and the defendant knows of such condition is guilty of a Class C felony.

Anyone who is aided or abetted by one or more other persons and has sexual contact or sexual intercourse with another person without that persons consent is guilty of a Class C felony.

Anyone who is an employee of a facility or program and has sexual contact or sexual intercourse with a person who is a patient or resident of that facility or program is guilty of a Class C felony.

Anyone who is a correctional staff member and has sexual contact or sexual intercourse with a person confined in a correctional institution is guilty of a Class C felony, unless the confined person is subject to prosecution for second-degree sexual assault. [See Felony - Misdemeanor Penalties Wisconsin]

Third-degree Sexual Assault

Anyone who has sexual intercourse with a person without the consent of that person is guilty of a Class G felony. [See Felony - Misdemeanor Penalties Wisconsin]

Supervision

If a person is convicted of any type of sex crime, regardless of the circumstances of that conviction (teenage sex between girlfriend and boyfriend, spousal rape, accidental sexually related touching), the court will order the person into supervision and required him or her to report on a routine mandatory basis. [Sex Offenders] [Sex Offender Registry]

Mandatory Reporting

Wisconsin is a mandatory report state, which means that all incidences believed to be a sexual assault upon a child must be reported. [See Sex With A Minor]

Immediate Reporting

Once charges are filed in a sex crime related case, the justice system moves quickly, with the objective of imprisoning a sexual perpetrator and ridding society of such an animal. That is the stigma that must be overcome immediately. Even false sexual assault claims cause highly negative social opinions of a person who is not guilty of any crime.

All sexual assault and sex related crimes are posted on the state's public records and made available to the public at large through the circuit court's website. [CCAP]

If convicted, long prison sentences are possible. As well, probation after prison is inevitable. The terms of probation will include supervision and mandatory reporting. [Sex Offender Registry]

Regardless of the Charge, Criminal Defense Attorneys Van Wagner & Wood Will Represent You

Regardless of the charges against you, the criminal defense lawyers at Van Wagner & Wood will defend you. When you place your trust in the hands of Van Wagner & Wood's attorneys, you can rest assuredly that you have done all that you can to ensure the best possible outcome. The criminal defense lawyers at Van Wagner & Wood have won several outright acquittals (not guilty verdicts) for their clients, and while there are no guarantees, their record clearly reflects their hard work, their intelligent and professional approach to their cases, and their skill in developing a strategy that fits an individual clients case, while drawing upon their knowledge, experience and skill from past cases.

Sexual assault or any sex crime is a very serious charge. Van Wagner & Wood's attorneys are very serious criminal defense attorneys with a successful track record in defending people charged with sex crimes.

Criminal Defense Attorneys - Wisconsin Service

Van Wagner & Wood is a criminal defense law firm located in Madison, Wisconsin. The firm's address and a link to a map are below. The attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood, Christopher Van Wagner and Tracey Wood, represent people under investigation for a crime or drunk driving offense or people arrested and charged with a crime or DUI throughout Wisconsin and most frequently in the courts in Madison, Monroe, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Wausau, Jefferson, Janesville, Fitchburg, Stevens Point, Baraboo, Wisconsin Dells, Richland Center, Sparta, Prairie du Chien, Marquette, Portage, Friendship, Juneau, Dodgeville, Black River Falls, Lancaster, Mauston, Middleton, Ladysmith, Elkhorn and Wautoma, Wisconsin (a list of the courts where those attorneys most frequently appear is provided below and on the Wisconsin court page). Those attorneys also represent people previously convicted of a crime or drunk driving who want to challenge or directly appeal the conviction or sentence.

Related Information:
Attorney Christopher Van Wagner | Attorney Tracey Wood | Firm Overview
Internet Stings | Sexual Gratification | Child Pornography | Sex Crimes
Felony Charges | Felony Penalties | Misdemeanor Charges | Misdemeanor Penalties
Jury Trials | Appeals | Prior Conviction Challenges

Contact Van Wagner & Wood

The criminal defense attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood are very experienced in defending people who have been charged with a crime or drunk driving, and they are very straightforward with their clients, never sugar coating the true or building a client up only to let them down in the end. For that reason, they prefer to refer to a first initial consultation as a mere first impression analysis because no good criminal defense attorney can even begin to fully digest all of the complexities of a sex crime case in the short and often hurried first meeting. If you would like a straightforward brief and professional opinion about the reality of the state's case against you and how you might prevail, please contact the attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood right away.

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