An arrest for rape can be unpleasant. A sentence for the sex offense results in severe penalties. So, you must prepare adequately for the trial by hiring an attorney to evaluate the case and craft viable defenses. If you stay in jail pending trial, you will skip work, meaning you could lack the funds to hire a private attorney for legal representation.

Furthermore, discussing your case with an attorney when you are behind bars is challenging. California statutes allow defendants to temporarily exit jail pending trial by paying bail. You can pay the cash bail or property bond or rely on a Perris bail bonds company. Many rape arrestees do not have the cash to post bail upfront, so they opt for the most effective and affordable way to exit jail, which is bail bonds.

Understanding Felony Sexual Assault

Sexual assault is a general term that refers to various non-consensual or forcible sexual conduct that includes but is not limited to, rape. However, felony sexual assault means rape. Therefore, when police arrest you for felony sexual assault, it means you face rape charges under PEN 261. A violation of this statute is a severe felony charge in Perris.

Per the statute, rape is non-consensual penetrative sex and encompasses the use of force, intimidation, or fraud. Additionally, you must not be married to the victim to face an arrest for the crime. Nevertheless, it does not mean it is legal to engage in non-consensual penetrative sex with your spouse. If you do so, you will face spousal rape charges, whose penalties are the same as those of a PEN 261 violation.

For you to face an arrest for rape, the following circumstances must be factual:

  • You committed sexual conduct against a victim who is not your spouse through physical violence, coercion, force, fear, or threats of substantial bodily harm. Sexual conduct, in this case, refers to penetrative sex and other forms of sexual assault, like oral copulation.
  • The rape victim was unable to legally consent to the penetrative sex because of mental incapacity, physical inability, or because the party was too intoxicated or unconscious to consent.
  • You threatened the victim with future retaliation on them or their close family, and the victim reasonably believed you had present capacity to act on the threats and cause bodily, psychological, or financial harm.
  • You accomplished the act through fraudulent representation that the sexual penetration was for professional reasons like medical evaluation.
  • You impersonated the victim’s spouse, and the deception was the only reason the victim engaged in the sexual conduct.

For you to be guilty of rape, there must be sexual penetration, however slight. However, if you only sexually abused the victim but were unable to penetrate, you will face other types of sexual assault.

Bail Definition

Usually, staying incarcerated and awaiting trial causes more significant harm than good. You cannot work or reunite with your loved ones. The chances of obtaining a positive outcome in the trial when you are in jail are minimal because you can barely afford a private defense attorney as you have no income. Thankfully, bail can help you obtain a pretrial discharge.

Bail is the funds you deposit with the court to guarantee that when released pending trial, you will appear for the planned hearings until the case closes.

After arrest for rape, your first court appearance is the arraignment proceeding, where the judge reads your charges and rules on bail. Sometimes, the judge can release you on your own recognizance (OR) without paying bail. In an OR discharge, you promise the court in writing to attend court proceedings when asked. Sadly, when you face a serious charge like rape, an OR discharge will not be available. If you are ineligible for this pretrial release, the judge must set the fee you should pay in exchange for a release.

Typically, the bail schedule determines the amount you will pay for release. However, the law permits judges to deviate from the predetermined figure in the schedule depending on your case's circumstances. In the schedule, total bail for misdemeanor offenses differs from those of felonies. The bail for felonies is significantly higher than that for misdemeanors. Therefore, when you face a felony charge, you should expect to pay a hefty bail amount.

The gravity of the offense of rape can make it challenging to post bail. The court will set an amount higher than the one provided in the schedule but within the law. The figure is set high in the tens of thousands of dollars because of the severe penalties you risk if convicted. If the figure were to be set small, it would be easy to skip court hearings and avoid conviction in exchange for bail forfeiture. However, when the judge sets a colossal fee, you will not be willing to flee and lose your money. You will stay and face the penalties of your crime if the court convicts you.

Rape Bail Bonds

Most of the time, the judge will set a hefty bail figure for rape charges, even if you are a first-time offender. You and your family will find it challenging to consolidate the funds quickly. Furthermore, even if the money to pay cash bail is available, you would better invest the money or preserve it to hire legal counsel instead of having it sit idle in an account until the conclusion of the rape case without gaining interest. Therefore, bail bonds are the most cost-friendly and effective way to exit custody.

A bail bond refers to a surety bond posted by a Perris bail bonds company to the court as an assurance that you, the arrestee or defendant, will show up for all planned court dates. The court discharges you from custody when the bondsman deposits these funds. If you think of relying on a surety bond to exit jail, you must wonder how it works.

Before your Perris bail bonds service agrees to facilitate your pretrial discharge by offering a financial guarantee on your behalf, you must deposit a premium fee, typically 10% of the bail, for their services. The fee is non-refundable, irrespective of whether you appear for all your hearings or whether the rape case’s outcome is in your favor. When you agree to deposit the payment, the bondsman assumes your financial responsibility by paying the total bail.

The bondsman is risking a lot of money by paying your rape bail bond. Therefore, they will require collateral so that when you skip court hearings, they can go after your co-signer to seize the collateral and sell it to recoup the forfeited funds. You can use vehicles, homes, jewelry, and company assets as collateral for the surety bond.

When you find an exemplary Perris bail bonds service for your discharge, they will evaluate the risk of your rape charges and then draft an agreement for you or the co-signer to sign. Once the paperwork is complete, the company will send a bondsman to the jail where you are held and pay for your release.

Rape Penalties

The outcome of your rape charges depends on the experience of your defense attorney and the preparations you make for the defense. This is why you do not want to spend more time behind bars. You want to focus on saving money for the best defense attorney and discuss all the case details for the best defense. To help you understand why you must find Perris bail bonds for a prompt release, let us discuss the various penalties for rape depending on factors like age, use of force or fraud, and incapacity to consent.

Rape Penalties

Rape under PEN 261 is always a felony. The penalties for the offense depend on the rape victim’s age. A guilty verdict for the offense attracts three to eight years of prison incarceration and the obligation to enlist as a sex offender for 20 years or a lifetime if the victim is 18 or older.

When the rape victim is aged 14 to 17, a conviction attracts seven, nine, or 11 years of prison incarceration. Additionally, the court will instruct you to enlist with Megan’s Law Site as a lifetime sex predator.

If the victim is 14 or younger, a guilty verdict for rape attracts nine, eleven, or thirteen years in state prison and the obligation to register as a lifetime sexual predator.

You should know that you are ineligible for formal probation in place of prison incarceration under PEN 261 if you used physical violence or force to accomplish the rape or if the victim suffered substantial bodily harm during the crime.

Spousal Rape Penalties

Spousal rape was formerly prosecuted under PC 262. However, Assembly Bill (AB) 1171 repealed the law, and now the crime is prosecuted under PEN 261, just like rape. The penalties for the offense are also the same as those for rape and include 36, 72, or 96 months of imprisonment. Additionally, the court will require you to enlist as a sex offender for 20 years.

PEN 261(a) (1) Penalties

Engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a person incapable of giving consent because of their intellectual inability or developmental disorder attracts three to eight years of incarceration in prison and the obligation to enlist as a sex predator for twenty years upon conviction.

Rape By Force, Physical Violence or Duress

When the prosecutor secures a conviction by demonstrating to the court that you physically held down or hurt the victim to accomplish the rape crime, you will face 36, 72, or 96 months of prison incarceration. Additionally, the court will instruct you to enlist with the Megan’s Law site for a lifetime.

PEN 261(a)(3) Penalties

A conviction for engaging in sexual penetration with an unconscious person or one who is too intoxicated to give consent attracts 36, 73, or 86 months in prison. Additionally, you must enlist as a sex predator for 20 years.

Regular Bail for California Rape Charges

If you face an arrest for a PEN 261 violation, the average bail you must deposit with the court to leave custody, as provided in the schedule, is $55,000 to $150,000. However, depending on the circumstances of the cases, the figure can go as high as $250,000. You do not have this kind of money lying idle somewhere, waiting for your arrest. Raising the figure within hours is also almost impossible, leaving you with one option: hiring a Perris bail bonds service to finance the bail.

An experienced bondsman will pay the amount, allowing you to return to work and obtain money to hire the best defense. With the harsh penalties associated with rape charges, you want to prepare adequately and have the best legal representation to prevent a conviction. You cannot do this while in jail, so a bondsman must facilitate your pretrial release at a fraction of the total bail.

Contesting Rape Charges

A rape arrest or charge can be devastating because the penalties on the line are life-changing. Therefore, you must hire an attorney with experience in these cases to prevent a conviction.

One of the defenses your attorney can use is asserting that you had permission from the victim. If you reasonably believed you had consent, you are not guilty.

Similarly, because rape does not occur without sexual penetration, your attorney can claim that you engaged in sexual conduct with the victim, but there was no penetration or intercourse. Unless there is a DNA test result to show sexual penetration, footage, or eyewitness, if there is no penetrative sex, the court will drop or lower the charges to a lesser offense with more lenient penalties.

Your attorney can also argue that you were falsely accused. They will use the accuser’s text messages and voice calls to show the accuser had motives to put you on the wrong side of the law. The lawyer can argue that the victim lied about the rape out of regret, anger, revenge, misunderstanding, or jealousy. They can also demonstrate false allegations by calling the victim to the stands for cross-examination to impeach their testimony's credibility.

Find a Reputable Bail Bonds Company Near Me

When you or someone you know faces an arrest for rape, you must obtain a prompt jail exit. The standard way to leave jail pending trial is through bail. Securing bail for rape can be difficult because of the hefty amount and bail conditions. Therefore, bail bonds are the quickest and most affordable way to leave jail while awaiting trial. When choosing Perris bail bonds, ensure their bondsmen are knowledgeable in rape bail bonds. At Fausto Bail Bonds, we will provide a prompt release regardless of the severity of your charges when the court grants bail. Call us at 855-328-7867 to evaluate your situation.