Is Psychological Restraint Equal to Physical Force in Sex Assault Cases? A New Case Defines the Terms

“Psychological restraint” constitutes duress and fear in sex offenses.

Psychological restraint supports convictions for felony sexual battery (243.4(a) & (c) P.C.) and penetration with a foreign object (289(a)(1)(A) P.C.). 

The defendant received his victims in his Woodland office under the guise of offering a professional massage. His therapy crossed the lines into criminal conduct. He was initially charged with 35 sexual offenses for inappropriately touching nine women. He was convicted of 16 offenses against six of the women and sentenced to a 15-year aggregate term. The defendant appealed his convictions on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence he used force, violence or restraint during the commission of the acts. 

Notes 

There is a lot of verbiage in this case – 47 pages long, multiple victims, and court analysis. For brevity purposes, I have excerpted selected victim testimony that weighed in the court’s decision that the victims were “psychologically restrained” and the “duress” and “fear” corpus elements for felony sexual battery and penetration with a foreign object were proven. 

The defendant told his victims, “Let me heal you” and “be open minded and relax.” 

The victims were told to disrobe. Naked on the ....