Marital Rape
When you are just accused of marital rape in Pennsylvania, you need to take immediate action to protect your life: your reputation at home and at work; your liberty; and your future. Learn more about the Pennsylvania laws regarding Marital rape below. When the threat of prosecution for marital rape is real, you need to look for best options and find a top Pennsylvania sex crimes legal team to fight for you. The moment you are accused of marital rape in Pennsylvania is the moment that you need to reach out to an experienced Pennsylvania Sex Crimes Criminal Defense Team. It is only natural you are looking for the best options; the best strategies and the best outcome. The best way for finding the right attorney for you is to speak with them and making the decision for yourself. Before you say one word; contact our team.
We are skilled criminal defense attorneys in Pennsylvania and experienced in handling the most serious sex crimes and violent crimes cases. Our job is to protect you, contest the evidence, contest the legality of any alleged admissions or search and seizure, protect your right to remain silent, and put the burden on the Commonwealth to prove their allegations. Look to Lee Ciccarelli and his team of experienced, aggressive criminal defense lawyers to fight for you when it matters. Contact us today 24/7 by email or at (215) 515-6111. Marital Rape is an act of rape alleged to have occurred within the context of a spousal relationship. The accuser only has to claim that a single sexual act during the marriage was non-consensual in order to lead to rape charges. Such charges are sometimes made or threatened during contentious divorces.
Many people mistakenly believe that the police will not investigate an allegation of rape made by one spouse against the other. However, these allegations often arise in the context of a fight between a married couple, and they often involve equally serious allegations of kidnapping, false imprisonment or domestic violence.Many people also mistakenly believe that they cannot be convicted if there is no DNA evidence or other evidence corroborating the victim’s accusation. This is not true. You can be convicted when the only evidence is the victim’s word.
When charged with a sex crime, the mere accusation of the crime can have a devastating effect on your life, including serious harm to your reputation, career and personal relationships. A sex crime conviction can follow you for the rest of your life. If convicted, you can face a lifetime registration as a sex offender and severe criminal penalties. Regardless of the severity or circumstances of your offense, your sex offender registration becomes public record, and your neighbors and employers will be able to see this identification indefinitely.Until the late 1970’s, most states did not consider spousal rape a crime. Typically, spouses were exempted from the sexual assault laws. For example, until 1993 North Carolina law stated that “a person may not be prosecuted under this article if the victim is the person’s legal spouse at the time of the commission of the alleged rape or sexual offense unless the parties are living separate and apart.” These laws are traceable to a pronouncement by Michael Hale, who was Chief Justice in England in the 17th century, that a husband cannot be guilty of rape of his wife “for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto the husband which she cannot retract.”The states used three different techniques for criminalizing spousal rape. The majority of states simply removed the marital rape exemption, without adding any other language. Other states replaced the exclusionary language with text specifying that marriage to the victim is not a defense. A few states created a separate offense of “spousal rape.”
While spousal rape is now considered a crime, victims often have to overcome additional legal hurdles to prosecution not present for other victims of rape. These include time limits for reporting the offense, a requirement that force or threat of force be used by the offender, and the fact that some sexual assault offenses still preclude spousal victims.The most common approach states took to eliminate the spousal rape exemption was to simply remove the language which provided it. Pennsylvania initially had a separate offense of spousal rape, which was a lower level offense than non-spousal rape. The law was repealed in 1995 to remove any language which indicated that the relationship between victim and offender was relevant, so that now in Pennsylvania “rape is rape.”
Our team of Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyers are working on your case so that you have the benefit of several attorneys including Lee and using their combined efforts and experience to get you the justice you and your family need. Get Justice. We defend the accused and their families throughout Pennsylvania including but not limited to: Allentown, Altoona, Bethlehem, Bloomsburg, Carlisle, Chambersburg, Coudersport, Danville, Downingtown, Doylestown, Dubois, Easton, East Stroudsburg, Gettysburg, Harrisburg, Hazleton, Hershey, Johnstown, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehighton, Levittown, Lewisburg, Lewistown, Lock Haven, Media, Middleburg, Norristown, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Pottstown, Pottsville, Reading, Selinsgrove, Scranton, Somerset, Springfield, State College, Sunbury, Towanda, Upper Darby, Wellsboro, West Chester, Willow Grove, Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport and York. Our Philadelphia Center City location is: Two Penn Center Plaza, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA and we make ourselves available to meet with you locally throughout Pennsylvania. Our business and mailing address is 135 East State Street, Kennett Square PA 19348 in Chester County Pennsylvania.
When you have been accused of a sex offense in Pennsylvania, you need justice; and you need a top criminal defense lawyer with years of experience winning the tough cases: contact the Justice for the Accused Criminal defense team today. Contact us 24/7 at (215) 515-6111.