Sexual Battery

An unwanted touching of another person in Virginia is a crime and generally is considered a Battery. However, an unwanted touching involving sexual acts can be charged a number of different ways, depending on the specific acts alleged to have been committed. These charges can be misdemeanors or felonies. One such charge is Sexual Battery under Va. Code §18.2-67.4.

For more information on other other sex crimes in Virginia, click here.

For more information on Assault and Battery in Virginia, click here.

Proof of Sexual Battery in Virginia

To convict an offender of Sexual Battery in Virginia under Va. Code §18.2-67.4, the Commonwealth must prove that the offender:

• sexually abused
• the complaining witness
• against his or her will
• by force, threat, intimidation, or ruse

Sexual abuse means an act committed with the intent to sexually molest, arouse, or gratify any person, where:

• The accused intentionally touches the complaining witness’s intimate parts or material directly covering such intimate parts;
• The accused forces the complaining witness to touch the accused’s, the witness’s own, or another person’s intimate parts or material directly covering such intimate parts;
• If the complaining witness is under the age of 13, the accused causes or assists the complaining witness to touch the accused’s, the witness’s own, or another person’s intimate parts or material directly covering such intimate parts; or
• The accused forces another person to touch the complaining witness’s intimate parts or material directly covering such intimate parts.

The Commonwealth does not need to prove that the victim physically resisted the offender in order to convict someone of sexual battery in Virginia.

Penalty for Sexual Battery in Virginia

Sexual Battery in Virginia is a Class 1 misdemeanor. It is punished with up to 12 months in jail and a fine up to $2,500.

However, a third offense of sexual battery or sexual battery and any combination of enumerated sex offenses committed within 10 years is a Class 6 felony and is punished with up to 5 years in prison and a fine up to $2,500 (Va. Code §18.2-67.5:1).