Falsely Accused of Rape Lawyer New Jersey

New Jersey’s criminal code contains no offense named “rape.” A person under investigation for, or charged with, what people commonly call rape in New Jersey is facing sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault under N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-2, with the operative terms defined at N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-1. The distinction is not cosmetic. It fixes which elements the State must prove and which subsection the defense has to answer.

A person who says an accusation is false is describing a dispute about facts, and the criminal case is where that dispute is resolved. An accusation is not proof. The State must prove every element of the offense it has charged, and defense work in these matters is element work: identifying what has been alleged, mapping it to a subsection of § 2C:14-2, testing it against the definitions in § 2C:14-1, and comparing all of it against what the record supports. The firm does not claim the ability to tell a client which account a factfinder will accept.

Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. was founded in 1997 and concentrates in criminal defense. Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. Anyone facing a New Jersey Chapter 14 allegation may contact the firm. Request a consultation. The firm maintains 24/7 phone intake at (888) 437-7747.

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What New Jersey Charges Instead of Rape

N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-1 supplies the vocabulary for the whole of Chapter 14. It defines actor, victim, sexual penetration, sexual contact, intimate parts, severe personal injury, physically helpless, mentally incapacitated, and coercion. Argument about whether alleged conduct was criminal runs through those definitions before it reaches anything else.

Subsection a. of § 2C:14-2 makes an act of sexual penetration aggravated sexual assault in defined circumstances: where the victim is under 13; where the victim is 13 to 15 and the actor stands in a specified relationship of authority; where the act occurs during an enumerated predicate felony; where the actor is armed; where the actor is aided and abetted and acts by coercion or without affirmative and freely-given permission; where coercion or the absence of permission causes severe personal injury; and where the victim is known to be physically helpless, incapacitated or mentally impaired.

Subsection b. addresses sexual contact with a victim under 13 by an actor at least four years older. Subsection c. reaches penetration accomplished by coercion or without affirmative and freely-given permission, and penetration involving victims in custodial, familial, age-gap or pupil-teacher relationships.

Grading follows the subsection. Aggravated sexual assault is a crime of the first degree, and sexual assault is a crime of the second degree. Subsection a.(1) carries a term of 25 years to life with 25 years of parole ineligibility.

The 2019 amendments changed how consent is described in the statute. P.L.2019, c.108 and c.474 replaced the former physical force or coercion formulation in several paragraphs with coercion or without the victim’s affirmative and freely-given permission. Conduct alleged to have occurred before 2019 is governed by the earlier text. Treating the older language as current, or the current language as though it had always applied, produces an analysis of a charge that does not exist.

Adjacent offenses sit in the same chapter. N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-3 defines aggravated criminal sexual contact, a crime of the third degree, and criminal sexual contact, a crime of the fourth degree; it incorporates § 2C:14-2 by cross-reference, so the 2019 consent amendments flow through it. N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-4 defines lewdness, a disorderly persons offense under subsection a. and a crime of the fourth degree under subsection b.

How Mr. Sris and the Firm’s Of Counsel Attorneys Handle These Cases

Work on a New Jersey Chapter 14 allegation begins with charge identification. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys read the complaint or indictment against the text of § 2C:14-2 to determine which subsection the State has invoked and which definition in § 2C:14-1 each element depends on. A count under subsection a. and a count under subsection c. call for different preparation and carry different grading consequences.

The date of the alleged conduct is then fixed against the 2019 amendments. Because P.L.2019, c.108 and c.474 changed the operative language in several paragraphs, identifying the governing version of the statute is a threshold step rather than a detail. That question is settled before any argument about coercion or permission is framed.

Discovery review follows. The attorneys examine what the State has produced, what it has not produced, and how each item connects to a specific element rather than to the allegation in general. Where an accusation is disputed, the defense record is built from the material the case itself generated: recorded statements, timelines, communications, and the sequence in which the report was made and investigated.

Exposure beyond the charge is analyzed at the same time. N.J.S.A. § 2C:7-2 lists aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual contact among registrable offenses, so registration belongs in any discussion of resolution. Where a minor is alleged to be involved, N.J.S.A. § 2C:24-4 endangering the welfare of a child may be charged alongside a Chapter 14 count, and those counts are read against each other.

Client contact runs through the firm’s 24/7 phone intake, and matters are staffed so that a client has a point of contact between court dates.

Mr. Sris and the Firm’s Of Counsel Attorneys

Mr. Sris is the Owner and Founder of the firm, which was founded in 1997. He is a former prosecutor. He is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York.

Time on the charging side shapes how a defense file is read. A former prosecutor has seen how a sexual assault case is assembled before it reaches a courtroom: how a report is taken, how an investigation is documented, how charging decisions are made, and where a file is thin. That perspective is used here to test each element of a Chapter 14 charge against what the State has actually produced, and not to predict how a case will end.

Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys handle New Jersey sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, and criminal sexual contact matters. The firm concentrates in criminal defense. Each file is reviewed against the current text of § 2C:14-2 and, where the alleged conduct predates the 2019 amendments, against the text in force when the conduct is said to have occurred.

Anyone contacted by investigators, served with a complaint, or indicted on a Chapter 14 count can ask the firm to review the charging documents. Involving counsel early does not change the elements, but it does mean the paperwork is read closely at the outset. Request a consultation. The firm maintains 24/7 phone intake at (888) 437-7747.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does New Jersey have a crime called rape?

No. The New Jersey criminal code does not contain an offense by that name. What people describe as rape is prosecuted as sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault under N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-2, with the defined terms supplied by N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-1. If you have been told you are being investigated for rape in New Jersey, the charge you will see on a complaint or indictment will use the statutory names instead. Reading the charging document is how you learn which subsection applies and, from that, which elements the State has committed itself to proving.

What did the 2019 amendments change?

P.L.2019, c.108 and c.474 replaced the former physical force or coercion formulation in several paragraphs of § 2C:14-2 with coercion or without the victim’s affirmative and freely-given permission. Because N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-3 incorporates § 2C:14-2 by cross-reference, the same change flows through the criminal sexual contact offenses. Conduct alleged to have occurred before 2019 is governed by the earlier text. If your matter involves older allegations, the version of the statute that applies is something to establish early, because the earlier and current formulations do not describe the same element.

What is the difference between sexual assault and criminal sexual contact?

They are separate offenses with separate grading. Under § 2C:14-2, aggravated sexual assault is a crime of the first degree and sexual assault is a crime of the second degree. Under § 2C:14-3, aggravated criminal sexual contact is a crime of the third degree and criminal sexual contact is a crime of the fourth degree. The statutory difference turns on the defined terms in § 2C:14-1, including sexual penetration and sexual contact. A charging decision that moves between these statutes changes the elements and the degree, so read which statute and subsection your paperwork cites.

What should you do if you learn you are under investigation?

Preserve what already exists and avoid creating new material you cannot explain. Devices, messages, and records covering the period in question carry significance whether or not they help. Whether to speak with investigators is a decision with consequences that are easier to weigh with counsel involved, and it is a decision better made before an interview is scheduled than during one. Anyone in that position can ask the firm to review the situation. Request a consultation. The firm maintains 24/7 phone intake at (888) 437-7747.

Does a conviction under these statutes require registration?

N.J.S.A. § 2C:7-2 governs Megan’s Law registration, and its registrable offenses include aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual contact. Registration exposure is therefore part of the analysis of any charge or proposed resolution under Chapter 14, rather than a separate question taken up afterward. If your paperwork cites one of those offenses, ask counsel to walk through what § 2C:7-2 attaches to the specific count, because the count that is resolved determines what follows. The firm addresses registration alongside the charge itself.

This page provides general information and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

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