Oral copulation is legal in California. However, there are limits. You cannot force someone to perform an act of oral copulation, and you cannot engage in oral copulation with a minor. Allegations of illegal copulation are grave. You will need a tough, committed, and accomplished criminal defense lawyer to help you. Armstrong and his staff of dedicated criminal defense lawyers at the Law Offices of Kerry L. Armstrong, APLC , are willing to fight for you and protect your best interests. Copulation means engaging in sexual intercourse, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
So oral copulation is another term for oral sex. An adult is a person 18 years of age or older under California law. However, not every instance of oral copulation is lawful among adults. Forcible copulation is when one person uses force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person to get the second person to participate in the act.
Additionally, felony oral copulation occurs when a victim cannot consent because of voluntary or involuntary intoxication, unconsciousness, mental incapacity, physical disability, or succumbing to fraudulent behavior. The prison sentence for these offenses is three, six, or eight years. However, the charge is a wobbler offense, meaning it could be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony—depending on the circumstances. According to Penal Code section b 1 , an act of oral copulation when one participant is under 18 can either be a misdemeanor or a felony.
If you are charged with a misdemeanor, you face up to one year in jail. You are more likely to face a misdemeanor charge if you do not have a criminal record and the facts are not egregious. If one of the participants is older than 21 and the victim is younger than 16, oral copulation on a minor is automatically a felony charge. The potential imprisonment for oral copulation with a minor increases to a three, six, or eight-year prison sentence if the victim is younger than 14 and the alleged perpetrator is at least 10 years older than the victim.
Oral copulation committed under the threat of force or violence with a person younger than 14 years old carries either an 8, 10, or year period of incarceration. Oral copulation accomplished by the threat of force or violence on a minor older than 14 carries a sentence of either 6, 8, or 10 years. Any conviction for oral copulation can cause severe difficulties in your life.
