Sexual Battery Lewd and Lascivious Internet Sex Crimes Romeo and Juliet Law Exposure of Sexual Organs Domestic Violence Criminal Defense Child Abuse Injunctions Arson Crimes

• Home
• Firm Overview
• Prefile of Sex Charges
• Attorney Profiles
• Contact Us
• Recent Court Wins
• Weblog
• External Resources

Lewd and Lascivious Molestation

Here are the elements of Lewd and Lascivious Molestation. This statute’s subsections also break down the severity of each type of molestation offense. It can be found in Florida Statute 800.04(5) and is defined as follows:

A person who:

• intentionally touches in a lewd or lascivious manner the breasts, genitals, genital area, or buttocks, or the clothing covering them, of a person less than 16 years of age, or forces or entices a person under 16 years of age to so touch the perpetrator, commits lewd or lascivious molestation.
• An offender 18 years of age or older who commits lewd or lascivious molestation against a victim less than 12 years of age commits a life felony, punishable as provided in s. 775.082(3)(a)4.
• An offender less than 18 years of age who commits lewd or lascivious molestation against a victim less than 12 years of age; or
• An offender 18 years of age or older who commits lewd or lascivious molestation against a victim 12 years of age or older but less than 16 years of age commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084
• An offender less than 18 years of age who commits lewd or lascivious molestation against a victim 12 years of age or older but less than 16 years of age commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084

As you may already understand by reading this section of the statute, many innocent circumstances can lead to this charge because the offense can be so easily committed: "intentionally touches ... the breasts, genitals, genital area, or buttocks, or the clothing covering them...". This definition allows for the prosecution of innocent defendants who may have had inadvertent contact with the outside of the victim's clothing.

Prohibited Defenses

It is important that you understand the prohibited defenses. While these are defenses are prohibited at trial they could have a very positive impact on the resolution of your case.

• Neither the victim's lack of chastity nor the victim's consent is a defense to the crimes proscribed by this section.
• The perpetrator's ignorance of the victim's age, the victim's misrepresentation of his or her age, or the perpetrator's bona fide belief of the victim's age cannot be raised as a defense in a prosecution under this section.

Now that you understand the specifics of this charge you may see the events which surround your own case differently. You may now have knowledge of facts which are favorable to your defense. More importantly, you may have knowledge of facts which are favorable to your case and not be aware of it. How's that possible? Even though you know what the elements of the charge are, there is a good chance that you are still overlooking other details. Through our discussion of the allegations, those details will come to light. These are yet more reasons that we need to discuss the facts with you as soon as possible.

Sitemap