All about Sexual offenses

Sexual offenses – what is important to know? There is no dispute that sexual offenses cause great suffering to the victims of the crime, their families and society as a whole. What are the penalties for sex offenders? Can sex offenders be rehabilitated? What should a person arrested on suspicion of committing sexual offenses do?

These and other questions we asked attorney Shlomzion Gabai-Mandelman from the office of criminal attorney Sh. Mandelman, who specializes in criminal law and mainly in representing suspects and accused of sexual offenses – and this since 1996. All the information on the subject is here:

What are sexual offenses?

The Penal Law, 1977-1977 defines the majority of sexual offenses – in the fifth sign and the tenth sign. In addition, sexual offenses are defined in the Law for the Prevention of Sexual Harassment, 1988-5588.

The phrase sexual offenses includes a wide variety of offenses involving contact with the body of the victim of the offense, showing sexual sights in front of him, abusive speech with a sexual connection, and offenses committed in cyberspace and more.

The main sexual offenses are: Rape, on grounds prohibited by consent, sodomy, indecent acts, indecent acts in public and sexual harassment.

What is the accepted punishment for committing sexual offenses?

The Penal Code sets a different punishment for each offense than the sexual offenses. The range is wide, when according to the Penal Code, the maximum penalty for serious sexual offenses is up to 20 years in prison.

The severity of the punishment depends on various parameters, including: the severity of the offense, the age of the victim, lack of consent, use of force, the age gap and proximity to the victim, as well as the potential danger of the offender and his criminal history.

Data related to the victim of the crime is also taken into account. For example, in the crime of Inos there is relevance to the age of the victim – whether the victim was a minor, as well as to other data – whether the victim was in a situation where resistance was prevented, whether she was mentally impaired, whether the offense was committed by force or fraud or while taking advantage of a state of unconsciousness, whether the offense was committed in a group and more.

Another example of an offense where there is relevance to the age of the victim is the prohibited grounds of consent.

If the minor is between the ages of 14 and 16, her consent has no real weight.If the minor is 16 and under 18, consensual relations will not constitute a crime unless it is a situation of abusive relations.

Even when it is not a minor, but a woman over the age of 18, it is still possible to commit a crime while taking advantage of abusive relationships. For example, in the case of a woman aged 18 or older while taking advantage of abusive relationships at work, in studies, in the army, etc.

Do sex offenders tend to repeat the offenses?

A review of the professional literature shows that the rate of recidivism (behavioral pattern of offenders who have been released from prison to the community and return to commit crimes) among sex offenders is low compared to the rate of recidivism among criminals who commit offenses that are not sexual offenses. That is: the possibility of rehabilitating the offender and investing in it is of great significance.

Despite the relatively low rate of recidivism among sex offenders, due to the severe effects of committing a sexual offense on the victim, a law was enacted to protect the public from committing sexual offenses (2006), within which a preventive rehabilitation system was established in the prison service and in the community.

Indeed, there are currently many preventive rehabilitation centers in the community, supervised by the Ministry of Welfare, but the courts generally prefer not to allow treatment of sex offenders in the community as a substitute for imprisonment and sentence defendants to actual prison sentences, within the framework of which some of them will not be able to receive designated treatment for sex offenders. This is because defendants sentenced to prison terms of less than 24 months do not meet the criteria for receiving dedicated treatment for sex offenders within the prison walls.