Sex crimes in Utah are more common than you might think. In 2023, there were about 4,970 cases reported to the state Bureau of Criminal Identification. When you apply this number to the population of Utah (3.418 million), that is 145.4 cases per 100,000 people.
While the numbers are high in Utah, that doesn’t mean the punishments aren’t severe. If you’re convicted of a sex crime, the consequences can follow you beyond jail or prison.
Here is a breakdown of what you need to know about sex crimes in Utah.
All sex crimes are serious, but some of them can get you in more trouble than others. The least severe charges are class B misdemeanors. This means you can get up to six months in jail with a fine of up to $1,000.
Examples of these “less severe” sex crimes include the following:
Lewdness can become a third-degree felony if you are a sex offender, you’ve committed the crime twice before, or you were committing another crime such as criminal trespass.
If you commit lewdness in front of a child under 14 years old, that is a class A misdemeanor. This can put you in jail for up to 364 days and a fine of up to $2,500.
The most severe sex crimes are first-degree felonies, which normally come with prison time of five years to life and a fine of up to $10,000. However, they might include even more mandatory prison time. This is partly thanks to Jessica’s Law.
Jessica’s Law is a piece of legislation that has been passed in states across the country. It was first passed in Florida as a reaction to a really disturbing case in the state where a man kidnapped, raped, and killed a nine-year-old girl.
It was passed in Utah in 2008. The law created a minimum prison sentence of 25 years to life for someone that commits rape, object rape, and sodomy of a victim who is under 14 years old. It also set the minimum sentence to 15 years if someone either attempted or committed criminal solicitation to do those things.
With all of these crimes, you can face a minimum of 15 years in prison if you caused significant bodily harm to the other person. However, if you committed a “grievous sexual offense before,” and you’re over 18, you may get life in prison without the possibility of parole. If you were under 18 with that previous conviction, it’s also a 15 year minimum penalty.
In everyday conversations, sexual assault often means inappropriate touching without the other person’s consent. It doesn’t necessarily amount to rape, but it can be an umbrella term that includes that crime. In Utah, there isn’t one law for this type of inappropriate-touching sexual assault, but there are a few that encompass it.
Two examples of that are forcible sexual abuse and sexual battery. They are very similar laws. They both involve touching another person in a way that would cause alarm. The main difference is forcible sexual abuse comes with the intention of causing some kind of pain or sexual arousal. Sexual battery doesn’t necessarily have that intention.
Forcible sexual abuse is a second-degree felony, which means one to fifteen years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. It can become a first-degree felony if you cause substantial bodily harm. Sexual battery is a class A misdemeanor.
Aggravated sexual assault is a more extreme charge you can get on top of forcible sexual abuse. It can also be a charge on top of rape, object rape, or forcible sodomy. This charge means that while you were doing the action, you either had a dangerous weapon, threatened the victim, or you were aided by other people.
This crime comes with a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years. It can also be life without parole if you’ve been convicted of another grievous sexual offense.
If you were attempting rape, object rape or forcible sodomy, this comes with a 10-year minimum sentencing. The minimum is six years in cases where it’s attempted forcible sexual abuse.
Utah has certain laws that correlate with the sexual assault laws we discussed but with either minors or children. These ones aren’t covered under Jessica’s Law.
The way Utah law is written, if you commit sexual abuse of a child, you may expect to have that charge be elevated to “aggravated.” There is a list of circumstances that give it that distinction. Some of them include the use of a dangerous weapon or threats that you would expect from any other “aggravated” distinction. However, it also says if you were a stranger, you made friends with the victim, or you had a position of trust over the victim, you can get that charge.
Utah doesn’t have a statute of limitations for most sex crimes. However, if DNA evidence is needed for prosecution, forcible sexual abuse and incest have a limit of eight years for prosecution as long as the reporting was done within four years of the crime.
The only other statute of limitations when it comes to sex crimes is unlawful sexual activity with a minor. It is ten years from the time the victim turns 18. In other words, when the victim turns 28, you cannot be prosecuted of that crime.
If you are convicted of certain sex crimes, you’ll have to register as a sex offender. Your conviction will become public knowledge, and people will be able to see where you live. You also won’t be able to go to public pools, playgrounds, parks, primary and secondary schools, daycares, or preschools.
1. Kidnapping
2. Voyeurism
3. Unlawful Sexual Activity with a Minor
4. Unlawful Sexual Conduct with a 16 or 17 Year Old
5. Forcible Sexual Abuse
6. Incest
7. Lewdness (4 convictions required for registration)
8. Sexual Battery (4 convictions required for registration)
9. Lewdness Involving a Child
10. Aggravated Human Trafficking
11. Custodial Sexual Relations (if victim was under 18 years of age)
12. Sexual Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult
13. Sexual abuse of a minor
14. Attempting, soliciting, or conspiring to commit any of the felony offenses that was listed above.
1. Child Kidnapping
2. Aggravated Kidnapping
3. Enticing a Minor over the Internet
4. Rape
5. Rape of a Child
6. Object Rape
7. Object Rape of a Child
8. Forcible Sodomy
9. Sodomy on a Child
10. Sexual Abuse of a Child or Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child
11. Aggravated Sexual Assault
12. Sexual Exploitation of a Minor
13. Aggravated Exploitation of Prostitution
If you attempt to commit any of the offenses that would get you registered for life, you will have to register for ten years.
It’s important to understand that everything we discuss here is about the absolute worst-case scenario. For example, even though a class A misdemeanor has a maximum of 364 days in jail, that’s only if everything goes wrong. If you have a good lawyer by your side — and you decide to make a plea deal — you’ll probably spend less jail time than that. You may even be able to get probation instead.
There are also some crimes that have similar wording but come with less severe charges. One example we gave above was forcible sexual assault vs. sexual battery. A good lawyer can help you plea down to the lesser charge of sexual battery if you’re accused of forcible sexual assault.
For some of the more serious offenses like rape or forcible sodomy, you’ll likely have to serve prison time even if you make a plea deal. That’s because there are mandatory minimum sentencing requirements. However, those laws also include wording that allows your attorney to help you serve less time.
If your lawyer can prove to the court that a lesser sentence would be “in the interest of justice,” your sentence can go from 15 years to either 10 or six years, depending on what the court decides.
When you’re accused of any crime, you’re presumed innocent until proven guilty. We always counsel our clients to act in their best interests. If there’s overwhelming evidence against you, we may suggest taking a plea deal to get the best outcome possible. However, in other situations, we may suggest taking your case to trial so you don’t have to face any consequences at all if you’re found “not guilty.”
When you’re looking for an attorney to help you, you want someone who has a lot of experience in cases similar to yours. For sex crimes, you’ll find that with Kristin Wilson, Michael Holje, Staci Visser, and Ann Taliaferro.
These are all brilliant lawyers that you’ll find at Brown, Bradshaw & Moffat, and they’d love to help you out with your case.
