Sexual crimes have been an increasing trend in the world and the severity and actions of the abusers have increased over time. Actions people were scared to do in private are now committed openly within the reach of the public and many a times people are unable to do anything about these things. Rape and sexual violence against people of all ages and genders have wrought the world news with worry. New born babies are raped and left to die, old age people are sexually assaulted as well as teens, college students and basically anyone and everyone is in danger of being sexually assaulted if they walk the face of this earth. In these situations and times it is essential for all governments and authorities of the world to put together strict rules, laws and regulations in the interests of protecting the people. In many places the authorities are able to provide safe enough environments for people to feel relaxed and safe in their skins. However since no government or its laws are perfect hence in many situations, rapists and other sexually violent individuals are able to escape the claws of the authorities and commit sexual assaults, rape and ruin the lives of many innocent individuals.
The state of Virginia takes all of the above-mentioned scenarios and situations into account and its authorities keep a strict check and balance for those who are found guilty of committing crimes of sexual assault. These crimes are considered severe enough to be considered a felony by the state and are punishable by up to 5 years in prison on the first offence. However, in cases of sexual battery crimes, the punishment majorly depends upon the severity of the crimes committed and the harsher the crime and its consequences for the victim, the worse it is for the abuser. When found guilty, they are subject to 12 months of prison time sometimes in addition to payment of a fine of a maximum of 2500 dollars. This section comes under the class 1 misdemeanor on the scale of severity.
In addition to these, a person who commits the same crimes or similar in nature for a third time, after already being convicted for 10 years is charged with a class 6 felony and subject to further jail time, mandatory time in correctional facilities as well as a bigger fine. Furthermore, any and all people found guilty by the state or federal courts for sexual assault have to register their name for lifetime on the sexual offenders list.
The sexual offenders is the best weapon that any state has because the task registering ones name on it and all the consequences that come with it is sometimes enough to discourage people from committing crimes that could somehow land them on that list. The threat of life not being what they envisioned, the threat of unemployment and of being shunned by society as a whole is the life sentence that is served to all sexual offenders in Virginia.