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NY Penal Law § 130.91: Sexually Motivated Felony
|Last Updated on: 5th August 2023, 03:47 pm
Understanding New York Penal Code Section 130.91: Sexually Motivated Felony
If you commit a felony offense with the intention of receiving sexual gratification, you will also be charged with a sexually motivated felony under New York Penal Code section 130.91. This statute is complex and requires an experienced attorney to navigate it successfully. The Spodek Law Group, led by Attorney Todd Spodek, can help defend you against such charges.
The Categorized Felonies
To face this charge, the felony offense that you commit or attempt to commit has to be one of the specific felonies listed in the sexually motivated felony statute. There are 29 felonies on this list falling under categories such as crimes of assault, murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, theft, arson and prostitution.
Crimes of Assault:
Assault in the first degree (Penal Law section 120.10)
Assault in the second degree (Penal Law section 120.05)
Aggravated assault upon a person less than eleven years old (Penal Law section 120.12)
Gang assault in the first degree (Penal Law section 120.07)
Gang assault in the second degree (Penal Law section 120.06)
Aggravated gang assault (Penal Law section 120.06-a)
Assault on a peace officer, police officer, fireman or emergency medical services professional (Penal Law section 120.08),
Assault on a judge (Penal Law section 120.09),
Aggravated assault upon a person less than seven years old(Penal law Section-125)
Crimes Involving Murder and Manslaughter:
Murder in the second degree(Penal law Section-125)
Murder in the first-degree(Penal law Section-125)
Aggravated murder(Penal law Section-125)
Manslaughter in the first degree(Penal law Section-125)
Manslaughter in the second degree(Penal law Section-125)
Crimes Involving Kidnapping:
Kidnapping in the first degree (Penal Law section 135.25)
Kidnapping in the second degree (Penal Law section 135.20)
Kidnapping in the third degree (Penal Law section 135.10)
Crimes Involving the Property of Others:
Burglary in the first-degree(Penal law Section-140)
Burglary in the second-degree(Penal law Section-140)
Burglary in the third-degree(Penal law Section-140)
Robbery in the first-degree(Penal law Section-160)
Robbery in the second-degree(Penal law Section-160)
Robbery on Third Degree
Crimes of Arson:
Arson on First Degree
Arson on Second Degree
Arson on Third Degree
Crimes of Theft:
Grand larceny on First Degree
Grand larceny on Second Degree
Grand larceny on Third Degree
Crimes of Prostitution and Obscenity:
Compelling prostitution, promoting prostitution, obscenity are some crimes that fall under this category.
On top of committing a felony from one of these categories, you must also commit or attempt to commit a sex crime with sexual gratification as your intent. This means that if you break into someone’s home, assault them or commit any listed felonies with an intention to sexually gratify yourself, you could face charges for a sexually motivated felony.
The Repercussions
The repercussions for committing one of these categorized felonies with sexual motivation are severe. The underlying felony will automatically be classified as a “violent felony offense.” As a result, if convicted, your sentence will be much harsher than if committed without sexual motivation.
An Example:
To illustrate, imagine a man breaks into a woman’s home late one night, sneaks into her bedroom, wakes her up and makes sexually suggestive statements to her. The woman screams, causing the man to flee. If caught, the man could be charged with a sexually motivated felony on the basis of breaking into the woman’s home. The break-in can be charged as burglary in the second degree. Even though he did not sexually assault her, he made it clear that his intent was to commit a sex crime.
Offenses That Are Related
Offenses related to sexually motivated felonies include aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree (Penal Law section 130.70), rape in the third degree (Penal Law section 130.35), and criminal sexual act in the first degree (Penal Law section 130.50).
Possible Defenses
To successfully defend against this crime of a sexually motivated felony charge requires demonstrating that you did not commit or attempt to commit an underlying felony offense listed above while having no intention of committing any sex crimes at all.
The Sentence
When there is an added component of sexual motivation for committing a crime; it is treated as both violent and sex crimes under New York Penal Code Section 130.91 statute guidelines resulting from effectively committing two felonies simultaneously during one act which will lead mandatory minimum prison term sentencing if convicted.
Because you have committed such serious offenses like these ones involving sexual gratification intentions behind them; registering yourself as Sex Offender under New York Sex Offender Registration Act(SORA) becomes mandatory for at least twenty years or even potentially for life depending upon your case circumstances.
Get Legal Help Today
If you are facing charges for any type of Sexual Motivated Felony Crime mentioned above then contact Spodek Law Group immediately because they understand how severe these charges can be & what consequences they may bring along with them so don’t wait until it’s too late, contact us today to schedule a consultation and let us help you navigate the legal system.