On September 28, 2016, on the heels of amending other sexual assault legislation on the books in California, the Golden State now allows rape and other sexual assault allegations to be brought at anytime during life of the defendant.
Previously there was a 10-year statute of limitations in place, but the new legislation puts sexual assault on par as murder and other crimes which carry the death penalty or life in prison.
The summary of the new legislation states:
Existing law allows prosecution of an offense punishable by death or by imprisonment for life or for life without the possibility of parole, or for the embezzlement of public money, to be commenced at any time. This bill would allow the prosecution of rape, sodomy, lewd or lascivious acts, continuous sexual abuse of a child, oral copulation, and sexual penetration, that are committed under certain circumstances, as specified, to be commenced at any time. The bill would apply to these crimes committed after January 1, 2017, and to crimes for which the statute of limitations that was in effect prior to January 1, 2017, has not run as of January 1, 2017.
The full text of the legislation can be found here: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB813
The new legislation is inspiring similar changes in Colorado and other states. The effect of the new law is clear. A complaining “victim” may levy sexual assault or rape charges against a person at anytime in their lifetime. A jaded ex-wife, ex-girlfriend or casual lover may decide even twenty or forty years later that a sexual encounter was was not “consensual”.
The purpose of the statute of limitations is to safeguard people from untimely allegations, especially when enough time has passed that witnesses are no longer around, memories may fade or physical or biological evidence is no longer reliable.
Men will no longer have the safeguard of common sense laws when it comes to defending against rape or sexual assault charges. As witnessed in the Bill Cosby case which is taking place in Pennsylvania, Cosby is being charged with sex crimes that were allegedly committed over forty years ago without the protection of statute of limitations periods to bar these untimely claims.
Under this new legislation, Men are not safe during their lifetimes from dubious claims of sexual assault. Theoretically, under this new law, Donald Trump could be charged with sexual assault based on his recorded conversation which took place in the 80’s if some enterprising “victim” decided to come forward seeking to press charges. In today’s digital world where emails, texts and videos are exchanged with girlfriends and lovers, such evidence can be used against at anytime in your lifetime.
The bottom line is that if you life in California or another state which is passing drastic sexual assault laws (targeting Men), you are not safe from casual sexual encounters, especially those that involve drinking. A victim can change her mind at anytime, even during the act of sex and claim that it is no longer consensual. This is what happened in Derrick Rose’s expensive sexual assault case in which he was recently acquitted after almost a two year trial. The victim had texted him saying she was “really horny” but still claimed that she was raped because she changed her mind the next day.
These new laws are a nightmare and will surely be used against Men by their jaded lovers or ex-wives. Although gender neutral on their face, I don’t expect that they will be applied in a gender neutral fashion as we have seen time and time again.
Unless you truly have a trusted partner or wife, and even then, I would argue it no longer safe to have sex with a woman in California or any other state which has these punishing laws.
If you have something to lose, i.e., money, fame or fortune, you can be sure that some form of rape or abuse allegations will be brought against you when it comes time to end the relationship.