Sex Crimes in Pinellas County

Prosecutors use several different statutes in Florida to prosecute sexually motivated crimes. A few of these crimes are charged as a misdemeanor including soliciting a prostitute or offering to commit prostitution.

Most sexually motivated crimes are charged as serious felony offenses including sexual battery, sexual misconduct, sexual abuse, and lewd or lascivious offenses.

In addition to the types of penalties incurred in criminal cases, sex crimes often come with special penalties such as a lifetime requirement to register as a sex offender every three to six months, sex offender counseling, a curfew, and restrictions on using the internet.

A conviction might earn you a spot on Pinellas County’s Sexual Predator and Offender Tracking Unit (SPOT). The SPOT unit was published in 2000 to publish information about the growing number of sexual predators and sexual offenders in Pinellas County.

Attorney for Sex Crimes in Pinellas

The five attorneys at Sammis Law Firm represent clients charged with sexually motivated crimes throughout Pinellas County, FL. Our office is located at 14010 Roosevelt Blvd, Suite 701, Clearwater, FL 33762.

We provide free and confidential consultations in the office, over the phone, or using remote conferencing on Zoom.

Call 727-210-7004.

Sexual Battery Crimes in Pinellas County, FL

Sexual battery crimes are prosecuted in Pinellas County, FL, at the Criminal Justice Center courthouse in Clearwater, FL. The State Attorney’s Office has a special unit devoted to aggressively prosecuting these complicated cases.

One of the most serious sex crimes prosecuted in Pinellas County is sexual battery (often called “rape”).

Florida Statute Section 794.011, defines the crime of “sexual battery” to mean oral, anal, or vaginal penetration by, or union with, the sexual organ of another or the anal or vaginal penetration of another by any other object. Under this definition, sexual battery does not include an act done for a bona fide medical purpose as explained in Section 794.011(1)(h), F.S.

Sexual battery can be charged as a first degree felony, punishable by a term of years not exceeding life, under the following circumstances:

• A person 18 years of age or older commits sexual battery on a person 12 years of age or older, but younger than 18 years of age without that person’s consent, under specified circumstances as described in Section 794.011(4)(a), F.S. including:
  • the victim is physically helpless to resist;
  • the offender coerces the victim to submit by threatening to use force or violence likely to cause serious personal injury on the victim, and the victim reasonably believes that the offender has the present ability to execute the threat;
  • the offender coerces the victim to submit by threatening to retaliate against the victim or any other person, and the victim reasonably believes that the offender has the ability to execute the threat in the future;
  • the offender, without prior knowledge or consent of the victim, administers or has knowledge of someone else administering to the victim any narcotic, anesthetic, or other intoxicating substance that mentally or physically incapacitates the victim;
  • the victim is mentally defective, and the offender has reason to believe this or has actual knowledge of this fact; the victim is physically incapacitated;
  • the offender is in a specified profession or a person is acting in such a manner as to lead the victim to reasonably believe that the offender is in a position of control or authority as an agent or employee of government.
• A person commits sexual battery on a person 12 years of age or older without that person’s consent, under specified circumstances, and that person was previously convicted of specified crimes as described in Section 794.011(4)(d), F.S., including:
  • kidnapping under s. 787.01(2), F.S.;
  • false imprisonment under s. 787.02(2), F.S.;
  • when the violation involved a victim who was a minor and, in the course of committing that violation, the defendant committed against the minor:
    • a sexual battery under this chapter; or
    • a lewd act under s. 800.04 or s. 847.0135(5), F.S.;
      • kidnapping under Section 787.01(3)(a)2. or 3., F.S.;
      • false imprisonment under Section 787.02(3)(a)2. or 3., F.S.;
      • lewd or lascivious offenses committed upon or in the presence of persons less than
        16 years of age under Section 800.04, F.S.;
      • lewd or lascivious offenses committed upon or in the presence of an elderly or
        disabled person under Section 825.1025, F.S.,
      • computer pornography under Section 847.0135(5), F.S.; and
      • sexual battery, except s. 794.011(10), F.S., which criminalizes false allegations against specified persons.
• A person who is in a position of familial or custodial authority to a person less than 18 years of age engages in any act, which constitutes sexual battery, with that person while the person is 12 years of age or older but younger than 18 years of age, without regard to the willingness or consent of the victim, as described in Section 794.011(8)(b), F.S.

In Florida, sexual battery can be charged as either a capital felony or life felony under the following circumstances:

• A person 18 years of age or older commits a sexual battery on, or in an attempt to commit a
  sexual battery injures the sexual organs of, a person less than 12 years of age as described in Section 794.011(2)(a), F.S.;
• A person less than 18 years of age commits sexual battery on, or in an attempt to commit sexual battery injures the sexual organs of, a person less than 12 years of age as described in Section 794.011(2)(b), F.S.;
• A person commits sexual battery on a person 12 years of age or older, without that person’s consent, and in the process thereof uses or threatens to use a deadly weapon or uses actual physical force likely to cause serious personal injury as described in Section 794.011(3), F.S.’
• Without regard to the willingness or consent of the victim, a person who is in a position of familial or custodial authority to a person less than 18 years of age engages in any act, which constitutes sexual battery, with that person while the person is less than 12 years of age, or in an attempt to commit sexual battery injures the sexual organs of the person as described in Section 794.011(8)(c), F.S.

Read more about sexual battery crimes in Pinellas County, FL.

Read more about lewd and lascivious crimes in Pinellas County, FL.

This article was last updated on Thu Wednesday, October 19, 2022.