Articles Posted in Sexual Child Abuse

Maryland Criminal Attorney– This is a legal question that I am asked quite often, mostly by young men. The answer to the question is contained in the trite but partly true expression that “15 will get you 20”. The general rule is that the age at which a young person can legally consent to engage in vaginal intercourse, sexual contact, or a sexual act with another person is 16 years. There is an exception to this rule if the older participant (usually the man) is less than four years older than the girl. In other words, it may or may not be illegal for an 19 year old to have sex with a 15 year old or a 18 year old to have sex with a 14 year old depending upon when the participants birthdays occur. A violation of the statute only occurs if the participants’ birthdays are four years or more apart. (Note: under the sexual child abuse statute it is unlawful to engage in sexual conduct with a child under the age of 18 if the adult has temporary or permanent custody of the child. This subject is covered in greater detail in another blog).

The unusual part of the statute, as compared to most criminal statutes, is that it creates a strict liability standard. What I mean by that is that it doesn’t matter whether the child looked older than she really was, whether she told the offender that she was older than she really was or whether he reasonably believed she was older than she really was. The law states that if an adult 4 years or more older than the child under 16, engages in sexual conduct with that child, he is guilty – period. There is no knowledge or intent requirement under this statute hence the standard – strict liability.
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In 1994 New Jersey became one of the first states to implement sex offender registry and notification laws. New Jersey enacted what became known as “Megan’s Law,” or the Sex Offender Registration Act, in response to a brutal sexual assault and murder of seven-year-old Megan Kanka by a convicted sex offender who lived across the street from her. Congress responded that same year by implementing their version of Megan’s Law, called the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Program (“Wetterling Act”). Pub.L.No. 103-322, 108 Stat. 1796 (1994), codified at 42 U.S.C. § 14071 (2000). The Wetterling Act, drafted to protect the public from violent sex offenses committed by repeat offenders, developed guidelines for registration, and more recently, community notification, and classified its registrants as “sexually violent offenders” or “sexually violent predators,” the latter of which was forced to comply with heightened registration requirements. Id. at § 14071. See generally, 61 Md. Law Rev. 739, 722-45 (2002). The Wetterling Act also mandates that each State may decide to what extent that information will be made available to the public. See H.R. Rep. No. 104-55 (1986).

The Maryland General Assembly soon followed, motivated both by appalling incidents within its own borders, as well as the federal funding incentive for compliance with the Wetterling Act, and enacted its first sexual offender registration in 1995. These laws were aimed at responding to the high recidivism and danger that sex offenders posed on its citizens. see Md. Fisc. Note, 2005 Sess. H.B. 770; see generally, 61 Md. Law Rev. at 742. Maryland has since amended its laws to maintain compliance with the Federal Act. Sexual offenders are required to register with the Crimes Against Children and Sexual Offender Registry for either a minimum term of ten years, or life, depending on the offense. § 14071. Maryland’s registry is operated by the Sexual Offender Registry unit of Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (“DPSCS”).

Maryland has four categories of persons convicted of sexual offenses: 1) a child sexual offender; 2) an offender; 3) a sexually violent offender; and 4) a sexually violent predator. The first two, child sexual offender, and offender, pertain to a conviction of sexual offense in the fourth degree. The Maryland legislature left the judge with discretion to determine whether persons convicted of this offense should be required to register as a sex offender. §§11-701. Fourth-degree sexual offense is a multipurpose offense, meaning that it is an offense having alternative elements and may be committed in more than one way, any one of which is sufficient for conviction. See § 3-308; Cortex v. State, 656 A.2d 360, 104 (MD 1995). This implies that while some defendants who have been convicted of the sexual offense in the fourth degree have committed a crime in such a way as to warrant registry, this Court can exercise its discretion to determine others convicted need not register.
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