First Degree Sexual Assault Charge Amended to Misdemeanor

Criminal Charge:

Woman charged in the Rhode Island Superior Court for:

• First Degree Sexual Assault, in violation of R.I.G.L. § 11-37-2

Case Overview:

Pawtucket Police investigated a young woman for First Degree Sexual Assault after a 17-year-old autistic male, who she had met using a social media mobile application, accused her of providing him with oral sex. The woman traveled from Attleboro, MA to Pawtucket, RI on multiple occasions to meet the young man. They drove around, went out to eat, smoked marijuana, visited a park, and allegedly engaged in sex. The boy lied to the woman about his age. The woman learned his true age when his mother contacted her to ask that she stay away from her son. The woman followed this advice, despite the boy still texting and asking to see her “one more time.” The woman never accepted the invitation, but some weeks later, was contacted by Pawtucket Police who informed her the boy was autistic, had the intelligence of a 10-year-old and had accused her of forcefully providing him with oral sex. Based solely on the boy’s allegation, Pawtucket Police obtained an arrest warrant for the woman for First Degree Sexual Assault. She contacted Rhode Island Sex Crime Defense Lawyer, John L. Calcagni III, and his team, to defend her in this very serious matter.

Case Result: Amended to Misdemeanor and Filed for One Year.

Attorney Calcagni coordinated the voluntarily surrender of his client and miraculously secured her immediate release on bail, despite the age-old Rhode Island practice of holding accused sex offenders without bail at the first court appearance. After some time had passed and prior to the case being presented to a grand jury for possible indictment, Attorney Calcagni and his team negotiated a resolution with prosecutors that called for an amendment of reduction of the charged felony sex offense to a misdemeanor simple assault charge. Prosecutors agreed to the amendment if the woman agreed to accept a 1-year filing as a sentence, which she gladly did. Under Rhode Island law, a “filing” calls for acceptance of responsibility to the charged offense and does not result in any punishment or criminal conviction. Instead, the case is filed for the 1-year and providing the woman does not get into any trouble during this period, the matter will be eligible for expungement at its conclusion, leaving the woman with a clean record. This woman also avoided felony prosecution in Superior Court, the possibility of sex offender registration, and even more importantly, a potential life sentence, if convicted after trial.