Criminal Sexual Conduct in the First Degree

Michigan Sex Crime Attorneys

Being convicted of first degree Criminal Sexual Conduct in Michigan has severe negative consequences. You will want to do everything possible to avoid a sex crime conviction, including consulting with expert sex crime lawyers. The sooner you contact an attorney, the better.

If you are still being investigated for a sex crime in Michigan, now is the time to contact us. There are many things an experienced attorney can do to help you fight or avoid criminal charges. If you have already been charged with a sex crime, don't give up! Understand that this is an accusation and nothing more. Our lawyers have obtained outstanding results for people who have been charged with sex crimes throughout Michigan. Although many other lawyers have never even tried a sex crime case, our defense team has won many of them.

Most sex crimes in Michigan fall under the category of Criminal Sexual Conduct (CSC). There are four degrees of CSC crimes. Criminal Sexual Conduct in the first degree is the most serious of the Michigan sex crimes. CSC in the first degree always involves allegations of "sexual penetration." This is defined as, "sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any other intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person's body or of any object into the genital or anal openings of another person's body, but emission of semen is not required."

There are multiple circumstances that will result in a Criminal Sexual Conduct in the first degree charge for a defendant. Those include:

  • (1) Engaging in sexual penetration with someone under 13 years old.

  • (2) Engaging in sexual penetration with someone aged 13 up to 16 and:
    1. the defendant is a member of the same household as the victim, or
    2. the defendant is related to the victim by blood or affinity to the fourth degree, or
    3. the defendant is in a position of authority over the victim and used this authority to coerce the victim to submit, or
    4. the defendant is a teacher, substitute teacher, or administrator of the victim's public school, nonpublic school, school district, or intermediate school district, or
    5. the defendant is an employee or contractor at the victim's public school, nonpublic school, school district, or intermediate school district -or- the defendant is a volunteer at the victim's public or nonpublic school -or- the defendant is a government employee assigned to provide any service to the victim's public school, nonpublic school, school district, or intermediate school district, -and- the defendant uses his or her employee, contractual, or volunteer status to gain access to, or to establish a relationship with, the victim.

  • (3) Engaging in sexual penetration under circumstances involving the commission of any other felony.

  • (4) Engaging in sexual penetration while being aided and abetted by one or more other actors, and:
    1. the defendant knows or has reason to know that the victim is:
      1. mentally incapable: "suffering from a mental disease or defect that renders that person temporarily or permanently incapable of appraising the nature of his or her conduct", or
      2. mentally incapacitated: "a person is rendered temporarily incapable of appraising or controlling his or her conduct due to the influence of a narcotic, anesthetic, or other substance administered to that person without his or her consent, or due to any other act committed upon that person without his or her consent", or
      3. physically helpless: "a person is unconscious, asleep, or for any other reason is physically unable to communicate unwillingness to an act", or
    2. . the defendant accomplishes the sexual penetration by using force or coercion, which includes, but is not limited to:
      1. when the defendant overcomes the victim through the actual application of physical force or physical violence, or
      2. when the defendant coerces the victim to submit by threatening to use force of violence on the victim, and the victim believes that the actor has the present ability to execute these threats, or
      3. when the defendant coerces the victim to submit by threatening to physically punish, kidnap, or extort in the future against the victim, or any other person, and the victim believes that the actor has the ability to execute this threat, or
      4. when the defendant engages in the medical treatment or examination of the victim in a manner or for purposes that are medically recognized as unethical or unacceptable, or
      5. when the defendant, through concealment or by the element of surprise, is able to overcome the victim.

  • (5) Engaging in sexual penetration while armed with a weapon or any article used or fashioned in a manner to lead the victim to reasonably believe it to be a weapon.

  • (6) Engaging in sexual penetration and causing personal injury ("bodily injury, disfigurement, mental anguish, chronic pain, pregnancy, disease, or loss or impairment of a sexual or reproductive organ") to the victim through the use of force or coercion (described above).

  • (7) Engaging in sexual penetration and causing personal injury (defined above) to the victim, and the actor knows or has reason to know that the victim is mentally incapable (defined above, mentally incapacitated (defined above), or physically helpless (defined above).

  • (8) Engaging in sexual penetration with a victim who is mentally incapable (defined above, mentally incapacitated (defined above), or physically helpless (defined above), and
    1. the defendant is related to the victim by blood or affinity to the fourth degree, or
    2. the defendant is in a position of authority over the victim and used this authority to coerce the victim to submit.

Punishments for Criminal Sexual Conduct in the first degree:

As a general rule, CSC first degree is a felony punishable by life imprisonment or imprisonment for any amount of years. The court may also order the defendant be on lifetime electronic monitoring. Convicted sex offenders will be placed on the sex offender registry.

However, there are a couple of special rules. If the defendant is 17 years old or older and commits first degree CSC on a victim who is less than 13 years old, the punishment will be imprisonment for a minimum of 25 years or life in prison. If the defendant is 17 years old or older and this is his or her second conviction against a victim who is less than 13 years old for CSC first degree, CSC second degree, CSC third degree, CSC fourth degree, or assault with intent to commit CSC first, second, or third degree, the punishment will be life imprisonment without possibility of parole.

Additionally, the court can order the imprisonment for the sex crime be served consecutively to imprisonment ordered for any other crimes arising from the same incident. This means that the imprisonment sentences are served one right after another, rather than at the same time, making for some very, very lengthy prison sentences.

Free attorney consultation: Fill out our contact form or call 1-866-766-5245 twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to talk to an experienced Michigan defense lawyer about your Criminal Sexual Conduct case. Our attorneys represent clients throughout Michigan, including Lansing, Grand Rapids, Holland, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Detroit, Saginaw, Flint, Ingham County, Eaton County, Calhoun County, and Clinton County.