Forcible Sodomy Attorney in Tulsa, Oklahoma

You Could Be Charged With Multiple Offenses When Arrested for Forcible Sodomy

This charge is most often found in adult (over 16 years old) cases. However, over the past decade there has been a surge in the number of cases involving juvenile victims. This is not because of an uptick in juvenile victims, but because of the charging decisions made in District Attorneys’ offices across Oklahoma. The DA's offices these days “stack” charges in sex cases. This is where they take a single sexual event from foreplay through completion of the event and break it down into discrete subparts and charge the defendant with every single criminal act that was committed.s

For example, in a typical sexual encounter, the DA’s office could, depending upon the evidence submitted charge the defendant for the following: touching of the breast, touching of the butt, touching of the vagina, giving oral sex, receiving oral sex, vaginal sex, anal sex, and possibly charges for setting up the encounter, setting up a follow-up encounter and using the phone or computer to set up the encounter. So the defendant could face three counts of lewd molestation, two counts of forcible sodomy, two counts of rape (first or second degree depending upon the age), and the possibility of charges of soliciting a lewd act before and after the encounter and two counts of use of a computer or telecommunications device in the commission of a felony.

You do not actually have to use what most consider physical force to be charged with forcible sodomy (also known as forcible oral sodomy) in Oklahoma. In some cases physical force is in fact involved. In other cases, simply a threat of physical force or violence is sufficient. Additionally, age may be the deciding factor if a participant is under 16 years old. Other factors that may have bearing on the charge include development or cognitive disabilities of the “victim” or whether the defendant may have been a school teacher or government employee with custody, supervision, or authority over the other participant. Each of these underlying elements all involve negating, overcoming, or the absence of the one party’s ability to be able to consent to the sexual act, either factually or legally.

21 O.S. § 888, Forcible Sodomy, Incest, Bigamy

A. Any person who forces another person to engage in the detestable and abominable crime against nature, pursuant to Section 886 of this title, upon conviction, is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a period of not more than twenty (20) years. Except for persons sentenced to life or life without parole, any person sentenced to imprisonment for two (2) years or more for a violation of this subsection shall be required to serve a term of post-imprisonment supervision pursuant to subparagraph f of paragraph 1 of subsection A of Section 991a of Title 22 of the Oklahoma Statutes under conditions determined by the Department of Corrections. The jury shall be advised that the mandatory post-imprisonment supervision shall be in addition to the actual imprisonment. Any person convicted of a second violation of this section, where the victim of the second offense is a person under sixteen (16) years of age, shall not be eligible for probation, suspended or deferred sentence. Any person convicted of a third or subsequent violation of this section, where the victim of the third or subsequent offense is a person under sixteen (16) years of age, shall be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of life or life without parole, in the discretion of the jury, or in case the jury fails or refuses to fix punishment then the same shall be pronounced by the court. Any person convicted of a violation of this subsection after having been twice convicted of a violation of subsection A of Section 1114 of this title, a violation of Section 1123 of this title or sexual abuse of a child pursuant to Section 843.5 of this title, or of any attempt to commit any of these offenses or any combination of the offenses, shall be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of life or life without parole.

B. The crime of forcible sodomy shall include:

1. Sodomy committed by a person over eighteen (18) years of age upon a person under sixteen (16) years of age;

2. Sodomy committed upon a person incapable through mental illness or any unsoundness of mind of giving legal consent regardless of the age of the person committing the crime;

3. Sodomy accomplished with any person by means of force, violence, or threats of force or violence accompanied by apparent power of execution regardless of the age of the victim or the person committing the crime;

4. Sodomy committed by a state, county, municipal or political subdivision employee or a contractor or an employee of a contractor of the state, a county, a municipality or political subdivision of this state upon a person who is under the legal custody, supervision or authority of a state agency, a county, a municipality or a political subdivision of this state, or the subcontractor or employee of a subcontractor of the contractor of the state or federal government, a county, a municipality or a political subdivision of this state;

5. Sodomy committed upon a person who is at least sixteen (16) years of age but less than twenty (20) years of age and is a student of any public or private secondary school, junior high or high school, or public vocational school, with a person who is eighteen (18) years of age or older and is employed by the same school system;

6. Sodomy committed upon a person who is at the time unconscious of the nature of the act, and this fact should be known to the accused;

7. Sodomy committed upon a person where the person is intoxicated by a narcotic or anesthetic agent administered by or with the privity of the accused as a means of forcing the person to submit; or

8. Sodomy committed upon a person who is at least sixteen (16) years of age but less than eighteen (18) years of age by a person responsible for the child's health, safety or welfare. "Person responsible for a child's health, safety or welfare" shall include, but not be limited to:

a. a parent,

b. a legal guardian,

c. custodian,

d. a foster parent,

e. a person eighteen (18) years of age or older with whom the child's parent cohabitates,

f. any other adult residing in the home of the child,

g. an agent or employee of a public or private residential home, institution, facility or day treatment program as defined in Section 175.20 of Title 10 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or

h. an owner, operator or employee of a child care facility, as defined by Section 402 of Title 10 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

OUJI-CR 4-128

FORCIBLE SODOMY - ELEMENTS

No person may be convicted of forcible oral sodomy unless the State has proved beyond a reasonable doubt each element of the crime. These elements are:

First, penetration;

Second, of the mouth/vagina of the defendant/victim;

Third, by the mouth/penis of the defendant/victim;

[Fourth, which is accomplished by means of force or violence, or threats of force or violence that are accompanied by the apparent power of execution.]