Campus Sexual Assault Defense Lawyer New Jersey

An allegation that arises on a New Jersey campus usually moves along two tracks, and the tracks do not run at the same speed. One is a criminal matter governed by the New Jersey criminal statutes, in which the State decides what to charge and a court decides what follows. The other is an institutional proceeding conducted by the college or university under its own written policy, separate from the criminal matter and reaching its own conclusions on its own schedule. A student can face both at once, or one without the other, and the sequence is rarely predictable.

The criminal track is governed by the same statutes that apply anywhere else in the State. N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-2 defines aggravated sexual assault as a crime of the first degree and sexual assault as a crime of the second degree. N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-3 defines aggravated criminal sexual contact as a crime of the third degree and criminal sexual contact as a crime of the fourth degree. A residence hall address does not soften any of those degrees, and the definitions that govern them sit in N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-1.

What campus matters do concentrate is a particular statutory question: whether the State can establish coercion, or the absence of affirmative and freely-given permission, in the form the Legislature adopted in 2019. Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., is a former prosecutor, and the firm was founded in 1997. Request a consultation by calling (888) 437-7747.

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Coercion and Affirmative, Freely-Given Permission Under N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2

The 2019 amendments changed the text on which many of these matters turn. P.L.2019, c.108 and P.L.2019, c.474 replaced the phrase physical force or coercion in several paragraphs of N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-2 with coercion or without the victim’s affirmative and freely-given permission. Conduct alleged to have occurred before those amendments is governed by the earlier text, so the date attached to an allegation determines which words the State has to satisfy. On a campus, where an account is sometimes reported in a later academic term, that date is not a formality.

The formulation appears in more than one place. Subsection c. of 2C:14-2 reaches sexual penetration accomplished by coercion or without affirmative and freely-given permission, and it also reaches penetration in custodial, familial, age-gap, and pupil-teacher relationships. Subsection a. uses the same language in the paragraph covering an actor who is aided and abetted, and in the paragraph covering coercion or the absence of permission that causes severe personal injury as that term is defined in N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-1.

N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-1 carries the definitions the whole chapter depends on, including actor, victim, sexual penetration, sexual contact, intimate parts, severe personal injury, physically helpless, mentally incapacitated, and coercion. Where an account describes drinking, the defined terms physically helpless and mentally incapacitated do the work, and the question becomes whether the facts the State can establish fit those definitions rather than a general impression of the evening.

N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-3 defines the contact offenses by cross-reference to 2C:14-2, so the 2019 language flows through to aggravated criminal sexual contact, a crime of the third degree, and criminal sexual contact, a crime of the fourth degree. A conviction can carry registration under N.J.S.A. § 2C:7-2, which lists aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, endangering the welfare of a child under 2C:24-4a., and criminal sexual contact under 2C:14-3b. where the victim is a minor among its registrable offenses.

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

Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys treat the criminal matter and the institutional proceeding as related but distinct, because they are decided by different people under different rules and produce different consequences. The criminal analysis starts with the statutory text: which subsection of 2C:14-2 or 2C:14-3 is in play, which defined term in 2C:14-1 the account depends on, and what the State would have to establish for each element. The institutional analysis starts with the school’s own written policy, whatever that policy provides, and with the documents the school has already generated.

The date of the alleged conduct is established early, since the 2019 amendments changed the operative language and earlier conduct is governed by the earlier text. Messages, application data, card and access records, and the accounts of people who were present are identified while they still exist, because reconstructing an evening months later depends on records that are not preserved indefinitely.

Written and recorded statements receive close attention throughout. A student under investigation is frequently asked to give an account to campus staff, to police, or to both, sometimes on short notice and sometimes without counsel present. Whatever is said or written in one process continues to exist afterward, and the separateness of the two processes does not make those words go away. For that reason the firm’s practice is to be involved before a student responds to either process, so that the response is made with the statutory elements and the school’s policy both in view rather than under time pressure alone.

Who Represents Students in These New Jersey Matters

Mr. Sris is the Owner and Founder of the firm, which was founded in 1997. He is a former prosecutor, and he is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. The firm concentrates in criminal defense and related matters, and its New Jersey work includes charges brought under Chapter 14.

Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys work as a group on these matters. A campus allegation can generate a criminal file, an institutional file, and a set of practical problems involving housing, enrollment, and travel, and those parts of a matter do not sort themselves out in isolation from one another. The criminal file and the institutional file are worked in parallel rather than in sequence. Work is assigned according to what a matter actually requires.

Timing tends to matter more here than in many other kinds of defense work, because a school may set its own internal schedule and an investigation may be underway before anyone is charged. The firm maintains a 24/7 phone intake, so a call can be placed when a student first learns of an allegation rather than after a written response has already been submitted. Request a consultation by calling (888) 437-7747.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the school’s proceeding the same as a criminal case?

No. An institutional proceeding is conducted by the college or university under its own written policy, and it reaches its own conclusions about a student’s standing at the school. A criminal case is brought by the State under statutes such as N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-2 and N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-3, and it is decided in court. The two can arise from the same reported facts and can run at the same time, but neither one controls the outcome of the other, and you can be involved in one without the other.

What language did the 2019 amendments put into N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2?

P.L.2019, c.108 and P.L.2019, c.474 replaced the phrase physical force or coercion in several paragraphs with coercion or without the victim’s affirmative and freely-given permission. That change matters in a specific way: conduct alleged to have occurred before the amendments is governed by the earlier text, so the date of the alleged conduct determines which formulation the State has to satisfy. If you are told that an allegation concerns an earlier academic year, that timing is a question to raise with counsel immediately.

Do the contact offenses in N.J.S.A. 2C:14-3 use the same language?

Yes, by cross-reference. 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, by incorporating N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-2. The 2019 consent amendments therefore flow through to the contact offenses. The definitions that give those offenses content, including sexual contact, intimate parts, physically helpless, mentally incapacitated, and coercion, are set out in N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-1 rather than in the offense sections themselves.

What degrees can a campus-related charge carry in New Jersey?

Aggravated sexual assault under N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-2 is a crime of the first degree, and a charge under paragraph a.(1) carries a term of 25 years to life with 25 years of parole ineligibility. Sexual assault is a crime of the second degree. Under N.J.S.A. § 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. Which of these applies depends on the subsection charged and the defined terms in N.J.S.A. § 2C:14-1.

Should a student write a statement for the school before speaking with counsel?

That decision deserves considered advice rather than a reflex. A written account prepared for an institutional proceeding continues to exist afterward, and the fact that the school’s process is separate from any criminal matter does not change what has been written. Counsel can review the school’s policy, the notice a student has received, and the statutory elements at issue before anything is submitted. If a school has set a date by which a response is due, bring that notice to the first conversation.

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.

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