Possible Sexual Assault in Los Angeles

[andie86]

Hi, I'm writing because the other night my friend had a very bad experience. She was at home drinking with her male roommate, who is also her coworker and friend. I'm unsure of how much they had to drink but they were both talking to me coherently on the phone an hour before this happened. She woke up to him penetrating her without her consent. She punched him and pushed him off of her and told him to stop. He did stop, however he knew he shouldn't have done this. He has always acted like a protective big brother to her, and said repeatedly he would never do something like that. This has been extremely traumatic for her, especially since she's in a relationship with someone else. The guy told after all this happened that that wasn't the first time that happened, but she has no memory of anything ever happening with him before that night. Can someone please tell me if he can be charged with something and what this would be considered. We are both so shaken because we trusted him so much. Thank you.

[Cat_Doc]

Your friend should call LAPD.

[andie86]

She's not sure she wants to press charges yet, but this is time sensitive. If we call LAPD, they want to know where we are so they can send someone. I just need to talk to someone. Does anyone know if he could be charged with a crime? I don't believe it's consentual if you're passed out and you wake up to that. And it's really bad if you don't wake up, but it's happened and you don't even know it.

[Cat_Doc]

She's not sure she wants to press charges yet, but this is time sensitive. If we call LAPD, they want to know where we are so they can send someone. I just need to talk to someone. Does anyone know if he could be charged with a crime? I don't believe it's consentual if you're passed out and you wake up to that. And it's really bad if you don't wake up, but it's happened and you don't even know it.

Yes, he can be charged with sexual assault, under the statutes in my state. I am sure the same applies to California, but you, I mean your BFF, should call the local police and report it, especially after the ****bird admitted to doing it earlier and not getting caught.

Think about a future daughter...would you want someone like this turd stopped before he did this to your daughter?

[andie86]

He's saying it happened before, but she was okay with it. She has no recollection of anything like that happening. However, he was giving her alcohol when he was telling me he was trying to keep her from drinking. She wouldn't have called me crying saying I need you to come over and get me if something bad didn't happen.

[retdetsgt]

Being drunk is not a waiver of her right to have sex nor is it a defense of his to rape.

Your friend needs to make up her mind as to what she wants to do. The first thing, of course is to get the hell away from this guy.

But none of us have crystal balls that tell us what the outcome of any police action will be. I suspect there are a lot of facts we (nor you) know and won't come out until there is a thorough investigation.

[Samuel]

Your friend needs to make up her mind as to what she wants to do. The first thing, of course is to get the hell away from this guy.

Quoted for emphasis.


PENAL CODE
SECTION 261-269

261. (a) Rape is an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a
person not the spouse of the perpetrator, under any of the following
circumstances:
(1) Where a person is incapable, because of a mental disorder or
developmental or physical disability, of giving legal consent, and
this is known or reasonably should be known to the person committing
the act. Notwithstanding the existence of a conservatorship pursuant
to the provisions of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (Part 1
(commencing with Section 5000) of Division 5 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code), the prosecuting attorney shall prove, as an
element of the crime, that a mental disorder or developmental or
physical disability rendered the alleged victim incapable of giving
consent.
(2) Where it is accomplished against a person's will by means of
force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful
bodily injury on the person or another.
(3) Where a person is prevented from resisting by any intoxicating
or anesthetic substance, or any controlled substance, and this
condition was known, or reasonably should have been known by the
accused.
(4) Where a person is at the time unconscious of the nature of the
act, and this is known to the accused. As used in this paragraph,
"unconscious of the nature of the act" means incapable of resisting
because the victim meets one of the following conditions:
(A) Was unconscious or asleep.
(B) Was not aware, knowing, perceiving, or cognizant that the act
occurred.
(C) Was not aware, knowing, perceiving, or cognizant of the
essential characteristics of the act due to the perpetrator's fraud
in fact.
(D) Was not aware, knowing, perceiving, or cognizant of the
essential characteristics of the act due to the perpetrator's
fraudulent representation that the sexual penetration served a
professional purpose when it served no professional purpose.
(5) Where a person submits under the belief that the person
committing the act is the victim's spouse, and this belief is induced
by any artifice, pretense, or concealment practiced by the accused,
with intent to induce the belief.
(6) Where the act is accomplished against the victim's will by
threatening to retaliate in the future against the victim or any
other person, and there is a reasonable possibility that the
perpetrator will execute the threat. As used in this paragraph,
"threatening to retaliate" means a threat to kidnap or falsely
imprison, or to inflict extreme pain, serious bodily injury, or
death.
(7) Where the act is accomplished against the victim's will by
threatening to use the authority of a public official to incarcerate,
arrest, or deport the victim or another, and the victim has a
reasonable belief that the perpetrator is a public official. As used
in this paragraph, "public official" means a person employed by a
governmental agency who has the authority, as part of that position,
to incarcerate, arrest, or deport another. The perpetrator does not
actually have to be a public official.
(b) As used in this section, "duress" means a direct or implied
threat of force, violence, danger, or retribution sufficient to
coerce a reasonable person of ordinary susceptibilities to perform an
act which otherwise would not have been performed, or acquiesce in
an act to which one otherwise would not have submitted. The total
circumstances, including the age of the victim, and his or her
relationship to the defendant, are factors to consider in appraising
the existence of duress.
(c) As used in this section, "menace" means any threat,
declaration, or act which shows an intention to inflict an injury
upon another.

[Legoate]

This is a matter between your friend and the police. You should get yourself out of the equation because your input really doesn't matter. She needs to make a decision and then stick to it. I find it hard to believe that if it has happened before that she has absolutely no knowledge of it.

[retdetsgt]

I find it hard to believe that if it has happened before that she has absolutely no knowledge of it.

I find it possible, but that also indicates a very serious drinking problem. She might want to look at that too if she continually got so drunk she blacked out.

[grumpyirishman]

Could be GHB or roofies involved...:confused:

[Cat_Doc]

could be ghb or roofies involved...:confused:

+1.

[eaglei]

Report the crime and trust in the professional investigative process. What if they were able to corraborate the crime and convict him?

[retdetsgt]

But the longer she waits to report, the more difficult it will be to get a conviction. The police don't have as much a problem with it as juries do.