Being a victim of a sexual crime can leave you feeling powerless, but you do have options for pursuing justice both in criminal and civil court in Georgia. You could receive monetary compensation that acknowledges your trauma through a personal injury lawsuit.
What Is Sexual Battery?
Battery is intentionally touching or striking a person in a harmful, violent, or offensive manner without their consent. Sexual battery is a similar offense of a sexual nature.
Sexual battery is intentional physical contact with an intimate body part of another person, without that person’s consent, for the purpose of sexual arousal, sexual gratification, or sexual abuse.
It’s important to note that the element of force is not mandatory for an offense to be considered sexual battery. As long as the sexual physical contact was unwanted and non-consensual, it is sexual battery. If this kind of contact harmed you, you could have the grounds for a sexual battery case.
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Penalties an Offender May Face for Sexual Battery in Atlanta, Georgia
Sexual battery is considered a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature in Atlanta, Georgia (O.C.G.A. § 16-6-22.1). A person found guilty of committing sexual battery can face:
- Imprisonment for a minimum of one year and not more than five years
- Up to a $5,000 fine
Furthermore, Georgia makes a distinction for cases of sexual battery against any child under 16 years of age, which is considered a felony. The term of imprisonment is still one to five years, though there will be further and harsher penalties for this felony crime.
Other Options for Atlanta Sexual Battery Victims
Anyone convicted of sexual battery in Georgia is likely to face jail time and fines and may also be listed on a registry of sex offenders available to the public. Receiving this result for your case can provide some closure, but it is not your only avenue for justice.
More than seeing the perpetrator punished by law, justice means having your experience acknowledged, and the cost of healing paid for by the responsible party. Thus, beyond the criminal consequences, the victim can pursue a personal injury claim against the offender for compensation for the damages sustained. This may include:
- Medical treatment
- Therapy expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Punitive damages
For example, your ordeal may have left you struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In fact, the Mayo Clinic lists suffering from sexual violence as a common event leading to PTSD. Your personal injury claim could help pay for treatment such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) or antidepressants. Additionally, pain and suffering and emotional distress damages can acknowledge your trauma.
The Different Forms of Sexual Offenses in Atlanta, Georgia
There are many different sexual offenses that someone can be convicted of, including
- Rape
- Sexual assault
- Aggravated sodomy
- Aggravated sexual battery
The key elements of these crimes are that:
- They involve sexual contact.
- The contact is not consensual.
- And/or the person was not in a condition to provide consent.
This could mean that the person was unconscious at the time of the offense, that the person had a mental or physical handicap that prevented them from giving consent, or that the person was a child and not at an age where they could give legal consent. This includes cases where a teenager may have given consent but was not old enough to legally do so.
Sexual assault can also include sexual contact from a person who has some kind of authority over the victim. For example, if a teacher is involved in sexual activity with a student, it is considered sexual assault. Other possible culprits who may take advantage of authority positions include:
- Doctors
- Employers
- Coaches
- Tutors
- Religious figures
Whatever form of sexual assault or abuse you suffered, the team at Bader Scott Injury Lawyers can help you pursue civil compensation.
When Sexual Assault Is Classified As Aggravated Sexual Battery
Aggravated sexual battery occurs when a person intentionally uses a foreign object to penetrate the victim in a sexual manner without their consent. A person found guilty of aggravated sexual battery in Atlanta, Georgia, can face life imprisonment or a split sentence, which involves imprisonment for not less than 25 years, followed by probation for life.
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The Importance of Consent in Sexual Assault Claims
While all these offenses are separately punishable by law, the common element is consent or the lack thereof. What qualifies as refusing consent goes beyond telling the person no and asking them to stop. This is because, in many cases, the victim is not in any condition to give consent, let alone be capable of verbally refusing it.
As a result, refusal of consent is implicit in certain situations, such as cases involving:
- Minors
- Mentally disabled individuals
- Physically incapacitated individuals
- Intoxicated individuals
- Unconscious individuals
For example, if a sexual offense is committed against a child, the child might not even know the meaning of consent and might be too scared or confused to say anything. Sexual violence against children often goes unreported since children are typically unaware that they have been victimized or do not have the vocabulary to express what has happened to them.
In other cases, children and other victims may be threatened against speaking out and may be afraid of retaliation from their attacker. This can make it even harder for some victims to report the assault, especially in situations when they are already not equipped to do so easily.
Similarly, if a sexual offense is committed against a mentally disabled person, the victim might not even possess the ability to understand what has happened. In other cases, the victim is physically incapacitated, due to injury; is too intoxicated to give consent; or is unconscious. These factors make the sexual contact non-consensual.
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Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit Against a Sexual Offender in Atlanta, Georgia
In Atlanta, Georgia, any kind of sexual offense reported to the authorities can result in criminal charges. However, as mentioned above, as a victim of sexual or aggravated sexual battery, you can also file a civil lawsuit for personal injury to receive monetary compensation for any physical or emotional harm you have suffered.
The amount and type of compensation that you receive will depend on the specific details and facts of your case, what treatment was required, and how severe your suffering has been. You may even get punitive damages in such a case as a punishment against the offender for their crime.
Victims Still Have Options Without a Sexual Battery Criminal Conviction
There might be no criminal case in some cases, or the person who committed sexual battery might not be found guilty in the criminal trial. However, this doesn’t mean you cannot pursue a civil case. You should be aware that you can still file and prevail in a personal injury lawsuit, irrespective of the status of the criminal case. Although dealing with the same crime, criminal and civil cases are treated independently.
Proving Civil Sexual Battery Cases
In some cases, it may be easier to receive compensation for personal injury cases of sexual battery and aggravated sexual battery than it is for other personal injury cases. This is because you will usually have to prove that it is more likely than not that the alleged person committed the crime.
You will, however, have to provide some kind of proof of the incident and the damages, such as:
- Medical bills such as doctor visits and therapy costs
- Police reports of the incident
- The alleged offender’s past criminal record
- Any other relevant evidence that might help you establish your case
All of this can be very challenging and overwhelming for someone who has been sexually violated. Many victims don’t want to pursue a personal injury claim because they don’t want to relive what happened to them, and they may want to put the situation behind them. Yet, this could leave the victim facing tremendous expense in treatment and recovery from the assault.
After suffering this trauma, you deserve to be taken care of – physically, financially, emotionally, and legally. We recognize how difficult this may be for you, and our team is here to help.
How a Personal Injury Attorney Can Support You
In the best-case scenario, as a victim of sexual assault, you will have a skilled and empathetic Atlanta, GA personal injury attorney to represent you so that the burden of establishing your claim and recovering compensation does not fall solely on your shoulders.
The attorneys at Bader Scott Injury Lawyers are committed to alleviating the stress and fear of pursuing civil action. We can handle:
- Talking to everyone involved
- Filing paperwork properly and on time
- Explaining every step of the process to you
- Compiling evidence and testimony
We don’t want your case to re-traumatize you. To that end, we take over as much as possible, so you can instead focus on moving forward.
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You do have options as a victim of sexual battery in Atlanta, even if you are unable to pursue a criminal case. Explore your civil options today. Contact Bader Scott Injury Lawyers to learn more about we can help you with your personal injury claim: (404) 888-8888.
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