Los Angeles Sexual Assault Lawyer Blog

ABC7 reports a former L.A. health inspector is headed to jail after being convicted of sexual battery.

Sexual battery in Los Angeles alleges that you touched another in an intimate area against their consent, without their consent or in an instance when consent was fraudulently obtained. California Penal Code 243.4 defines it as the non-consensual touching of another for sexual arousal, gratification or abuse.

Sexual battery can be filed as either a misdemeanor or a felony. In misdemeanor cases, the penalty is up to six months in jail and a $3,000 fine. Registration as a sex offender is typically required. Felony sexual assault in Los Angeles typically involves a victim who was restrained, unconscious or who lacked the mental capacity to resist. A felony charge is punishable by up to 4 years in prison, a $10,000 fine and registration as a sex offender.

In this case, the 51-year-old defendant was sentenced to 115 days in the county jail and ordered to serve three years of probation. He must also pay restitution to the victim and register as a sex offender for life.

A criminal protective order was also issued prohibiting the defendant from contacting the woman or going near her place of business. He was charged last May -- accused of assaulting the victim in a Pomona donut shop in March 2010.

In a separate case, prosecutors are looking for additional victims of a 55-year-old Costa Mesa man accused of sexual assaulting teenage girls on the bus. He pleaded guilty last week to a misdemeanor count of child annoyance.

He was accused of following a 16-year-old girl to her seat, where he groped her thighs and tried to unzip her jeans. The Daily Titan reports he was sentenced to 180 days in jail, three years of probation and mandatory registration as a sex offender.

Continue reading "Former Health Inspector Convicted of Sexual Battery in Los Angeles" »

A jury has awarded a sheriff's sergeant $211,700 as the result of a sexual harassment lawsuit in Los Angeles, according to a report in the Mercury News.

Pasadena Employment Attorney Okorie Okorocha said the female sergeant was sexually harassed by a lieutenant from the moment she began working at the Norwalk Sheriff's Station. This included attempts to get her to call him after hours and unwanted touching. He also indicated he had the power to get her promoted if she "cooperated."

Despite making formal complaints through the chain of command, she was denied transfers and promotions. Ultimately, she was relegated to secretarial duties normally handled by interns. The jury awarded her $211,700 plus attorney fees.

"Attorneys with the California Legal Team worked to get (her) the justice she deserved after enduring sexual harassment for years," Okorocha said.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported 11,717 sexual harassment complaints were filed in 2010. That is down from the 13,000 a year reported before the economic downturn. Unfortunately, victims may be less likely to report such harassment during a poor economy.

However, harassed workers who seek qualified legal representation enjoy protected status as state and federal law forbids retaliation. Sexually harassing behavior does not usually resolve itself. In most cases, an offender must be disciplined and/or removed from the workplace.

Continue reading "California Legal Team wins Los Angeles Sexual Harassment Claim against LCSO" »

An Army veteran who read to children for Veteran's Day was arrested after authorities found out he was a registered sex offender, UPI reported.

Our Orange County criminal defense attorneys understand the long-term consequences being charged with a sex crime can have for a defendant. More than many other types of criminal offenses, a defendant continues to pay for a sex-crime conviction long after the fact. The stipulations of sex-offender notification alone may virtually guarantee that a convicted offender runs afoul of the law. Or at the very least, is subjected to the stigma of having been convicted of a sex offense for years, or even decades after the fact.

In this case, the 56-year-old retired army major was arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office on suspicion of entering school grounds as a registered sex offender. He had gone to Los Altos Elementary to read at the school's "heroes day" in honor of Veteran's Day. The Los Angeles Times reported the veteran was convicted in San Diego County in 2000 for attempted lewd acts on a child under the age of 14.

Deputies investigated and made the arrest long after the November visit. In fact the investigation was opened after they heard of the event last week.

Continue reading "Military Veteran charged as a sex offender for reading to school kids on Veteran's Day" »

DNA has linked a death row inmate to a series of sex crimes and murders in Los Angeles. In some cases, other defendants had been convicted of the crimes, The L.A. Times reported.

Our Pasadena criminal defense lawyers understand the complex issues involving cold cases solved, or allegedly solved, using DNA evidence. Many defendants convicted of felony crimes are required to submit a DNA sample to state and federal databases. as a result, the Combined DNA Indexing System (CODIS) continues to link defendants to unsolved crimes months or even years after the fact. And states continue to pass laws permitting the prosecution of such cases even when the statute of limitations would have otherwise expired.

In this case, Chester Dewayne Turner, one of L.A.'s most notorious serial killers, has been charged with four additional murders as a result of DNA evidence. The cases are roughly 15 years old and in two instances another man was wrongfully convicted and spent more than a decade in prison before freed by DNA evidence. Turner was sentenced to death in 2007 for the murder of 10 women. A one-time pizza delivery man, he was one of at least 5 serial killers who roamed the streets in the 1980s and 1990s.

Cold cases have significant issues with evidence being lost or destroyed, witnesses dying or moving away, memories fading, and other complications, which can work both for and against a defendant. In general, they are much more complicated than handling present-day crimes.

This case also shows the problems associated with relying upon eyewitnesses or other evidence in cases where no physical evidence exists. Several men ultimately went to prison for sex crimes and/or murders they did not commit.

Continue reading "DNA Evidence, cold cases, eyewitness testimony frequently impact sex crimes in Los Angeles" »