What are the factors or elements for 243.4 Sexual Battery?
Under Penal Code 243.4 PC, California law prohibits touching the intimate part of another person for purposes of sexual
- Arousal
- Gratification, or
Sexual battery can be either misdemeanor or
felony sexual battery. Felony penalties may apply if the alleged victim:
- Was unaware of the nature of the act because s/he was fraudulently convinced that the touching was for professional purposes (like, for example, medical or therapeutic purposes),
- Was unlawfully restrained,
- Was institutionalized andeither medically incapacitated or seriously disabled, or
- Was forced to masturbate or touch one of your intimate parts . . . or the intimate part of another person . . . under any of the above circumstances.
Here are some examples of misdemeanor sexual assault:
- Intentionally fondling a female stranger’s breast without permission, or
- Putting your hands on someone else’s buttocks without first obtaining consent to do so.
And here are some examples of felony sexual assault:
- Holding someone down while you unbutton their pants and put your hand inside their underwear,
- A male therapist convincing his patient that she should allow him to fondle her bare breast in order to overcome her sexual inhibitions, and
- Convincing an institutionalized mentally ill person to masturbate in front of you.