Assault is the threat of bodily harm when there is an actual ability to cause someone harm.

Under law, it is both criminal and civil and can be prosecuted under wither one. For assault to occur, there must be an act thats seems to imply harm to someone or some offensive action against them. It must be an obvious, obvert action. While words cannot cause assault to be charged they can be connected to actions and acts to make them part of the claim. While someone threatening you is not an assault, someone threatening you with a raised fist ready to strike would probably be enough to bring the charge. It does need to be intentional, however, someone raising his or her hand near you for another reason than to attack would not be able to be charged.

Battery is a crime that can occur in different levels, or degrees. The basic crime is the physical act of contact by one party with another. It has to be intentional and done with the goal of causing injury or pain to another. While the assault does not require physical contact, the battery charge does. It also can be both criminal and tort, and handled in either civil or criminal courts.

The degrees depend on the severity of the act. Simple battery can include any type of non-consensual insulting or harmful contact, whether there is much damage done or not. Domestic violence is battery between the two parties who are related in any family manner or intimate relationship. Sexual battery is nonconsensual sexual physical contact of any nature. These types are most often treated as misdemeanors, although that may change with jurisdiction. In addition,

when someone commits these crimes repeatedly, they are looked at and treated more severely by the legal and judicial systems.

Aggravated battery is next and is usually considered a felony. It is battery that involves some aggravating factor, including being committed against a protected person (a child, an officer of the law, someone over 65, someone who is handicapped), if it involves a weapon (real or threatened, firearm or brass knuckles or a sock filled with coins will all fulfill this requirement), if the victim suffered significant injury (loss of limb, eyesight, or other permanent damage), or occurring in a school zone, a public transit vehicle, a bus or train station, or other protected location.)

Mayhem is defined slightly differently in different jurisdictions. In Massachusetts, to use an example:

Whoever, with malicious intent to maim or disfigure, cuts out or main=ms the tongue, puts out or destroys an eye, cuts off or tears an ear, cut, slits or mutilates the nose or lip, or cuts off or disables the limb or member of another person,.

The key here is the actual intentional maiming of the human body. Punishment for these charges is usually severe, since the incidents where these crimes occur have victims who are severely hurt. The victims of mayhem will

have significant bodily injuries that were intentionally induced, if they have not lost limbs, ears, or eyes. Many will have deep and significant scars from the crime since the intent of the criminal here is to intentionally disfigure the victim.

Rape is forced, unwanted sexual intercourse, and can occur to both men and women of any age. Sometimes it is called sexual assault. The goal of the rapist is to have power, not to have sex. The rapist threatens or uses actual violence or force to take control of another human being and to use them sexually. Rapists can be family members, friends, strangers, dates, or someone just met on the street. Decades of teaching children about Stranger Danger in the schools with Officer Friendly may actually have increased the ability of some rapists and others to continue because we have taught young Americans that only strangers can do this and most often, it is an acquaintance or date that will commit the crime.

This is obvious because most people who are raped know their rapist. Sometimes they try to protect the person who committed the crime and the victim must learn to protect themselves and to prosecute the crime whenever possible. It is severely traumatic, and many people do not want to report the crime, even though that just leaves the rapist out and free to possibly rape others. Removing the criminal from the street is extremely important to do whenever possible. Victims do not have to report his crime to the police, but it is suggested that they at least be brave enough to go to their local hospital in the clothes they had on

when they were raped and before washing up so that they can have evidence that can help later should they decide to prosecute. In some jurisdictions, if you are under 18, they will be forced to call your parents.

Taking this one step, should you decide to report the crime, provides the evidence needed to pursue your case against the rapist. Many people immediately think they cannot report the rape because emotionally they are damaged from the physical and violent act. Should they change their minds later and not have this evidence collected immediately, there will be nothing evidentiary to help prosecute the rapist.

In addition, there may be a statute of limitations a period defining how much time after the event you have to report it as a crime. The sooner it is recorded, the better off you will be if years later you decide you cannot stand the feeling any more and need to see the rapist behind bars you will have reported it right away.

Statutory rape occurs when there is sex between a child and someone old enough to be considered a teen or an adult. It does not matter if the sex is consensual, and the ages involved vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The age of consent will be different in many locations, and does not travel with you from town to town, so once you cross a jurisdictional line you can be arrested for something that you may have done legally as two teenagers in your hometown.

Moreover, it is teenagers who often are caught in this. Imagine dating or even having sex with a partner a year younger than you and having no problems where you live but meet together in a hotel room out of state where the ages change and you are arrested for raping your girlfriend.

When these types of cases are prosecuted, it is usually because someone who has to press the issue discovered the activity. Teachers and counselors, Scout leaders and others are all legally required to report underage sexual activity and molestation. Other times family members may well bring charges because they disapprove of the relationship no matter how close in age the two youth may be.

REFERENCES

Burrell, Jackie. About.com:Young Adults. Teens, Sex and the Law. Chan, Jason. (2010) The Very Serious Crime of Mayhem. Retrieved 3/10/10. http://attorneychan.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/the-very-serious-crime-of-mayhem/. Criminal Law Lawyer Source. Battery. Retrieved 3/10/10. http://www.criminal-lawlawyer-source.com/terms/battery.html. Free Dictionary. Assault. Retrieved 3/10/10. http://legaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/assault. Kingsley, Richard S. (2007) TeensHealth.com. Rape. Retrieved 3/10/10. http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/problems/rape_what_to_do.html.