Sexual Violence Injunction in Florida

Sexual violence is a specific kind of act that is legally defined in the state of Florida. Victims of this kind of violence are able to seek injunctions against the person who has caused them harm. This injunction protects the victim from contact with their aggressor and can place other limitations on the person who has engaged in sexually violent acts.

The team at Lopez Law Group has years of experience with sexual violence injunctions and can help you seek the legal protections that you need to put in place after this kind of event. We will help you to protect yourself and your family from the violent acts of others.

What is Sexual Violence?

Under Florida law, sexual violence is defined as those involved in sexually lewd acts, which can include forcible felonies. The sexual violence that occurred has to have been reported to a law enforcement agency to be defined as sexual violence. If someone has been a victim of this kind of act, they are allowed to seek a court protective order or an injunction against this person after the sexual violence takes place. This injunction will prevent further acts of this nature from being taken against the victim.

Some other defining features of sexual violence under the law are:

• Any forcible felony where a sexual act is committed or attempted is also considered under the banner of sexual violence.
• Lewd or lascivious acts that are defined in chapter 800 of the Florida Statutes which are committed in or upon a person that is 16 years of age or older in the state of Florida
• Luring or enticing a child as described in chapter 787 of the Florida Statutes
• Sexual performances by a child, which are described in chapter 827, Florida Statutes

The situations that lead to sexual violence can vary significantly from case to case. If you are not sure if you have been a victim of this kind of act, the team at Lopez Law can help. We are happy to see you for a consultation and listen to your side of the story. The information that we collect from you can help determine the best way to seek an injunction and whether or not your case meets the definition of sexual violence under Florida law.

“Violence” under Florida law includes these actions:

• Assault
• Aggravated assault
• Battery
• Aggravated battery
• Sexual assault
• Sexual battery
• Stalking
• Aggravated stalking
• Kidnapping
• False imprisonment

Sexual violence injunctions are limited more than other injunctions in the situations that they are applied to, but that does not mean that you cannot seek legal support and guidance if you have suffered a variety of different kinds of violence at the hands of an aggressor. The team at Lopez Law will be happy to meet with you and listen to your story so that we can be sure that you get the right legal protections put in place to help you and your loved ones stay safe. While an aggressor might continue to break the law after an injunction, the injunction will allow legal processes to be enacted to take serious legal action against your attacker.

What Are the Requirements to Seek This Kind of Injunction?

In order to be able to get a sexual violence injunction, there are some steps that have to be taken. You cannot skip any of the steps of the process and successfully get an injunction against someone who has engaged in these activities.

To get this kind of injunction, you will need to have reported the sexually violent act or event to law enforcement. You will also need to cooperate with the law enforcement agency that is conducting the investigation.  You can also seek a protection injunction to keep yourself or a minor child from future acts of this nature caused by an aggressor.

If you are worried about these acts being repeated by someone who is going to be released from prison within the next 90 days, you can petition for a new injunction of this kind. The notice of inmate release needs to be included in the documentation for these applications for an injunction.

There are some limitations that factor into the determination of whether a sexual violence injunction is the appropriate injunction type. There are some key differences between this kind of injunction and other kinds of injunctions in the same general category. Sexual injunctions require that the act is committed by someone with whom you do not have a child in common. This person cannot be a family or household member. If the minor child was the one who suffered at the hands of the aggressor, you are allowed to file on behalf of the child as the parent or legal guardian.

In cases where you share a minor child with the person who caused the act of violence or you live with the person who caused the act of violence, the appropriate type of injunction is an injunction for protection against domestic violence. Your lawyer will be able to help you determine which of the two types of injunction are necessary in your specific case.

Can a Sexual Violence Injunction be Dismissed or Modified?

The only way that this kind of injunction can be dismissed, vacated, modified, dissolved, or changed once it is effective is if the court determines that this is the right course of action. A party can only obtain relief from this kind of injunction if they can demonstrate at a subsequent hearing that the facts that gave rise to the need for the injunction are no longer in existence. This is not very common, as many people who engage in these acts cannot prove that they are not capable of engaging in these acts again in the future.

If someone violates the injunction against them, they are unlikely to be able to have the injunction removed at any future date. These kinds of legal orders can be extended as well in response to these kinds of actions. Injunctions are the first and most important step that you can take to begin to hold someone who has acted in this negative way accountable for their actions. Once an injunction is in place, all further acts of sexual violence or forbidden contact are treated as repeat offenses and are associated with much more severe penalties.

What is a Temporary Injunction?

Often, court hearings for these kinds of cases have to be scheduled weeks into the future. This means that victims need protection before their court date. The temporary injunction that you are granted will be replaced by a more specific and focused injunction after your court date. In the meantime, the temporary injunction will protect you and your family from aggression or unwanted attention until your court date.

If the person who has taken a violent action toward you was in the process of moving into your residence or sharing a property with you, there might need to be additional steps taken to remove them from your home and to ensure that they do not come back to the property during the duration of the injunction. There are limited cases where these kinds of complexities can come up associated with sexual violence injunctions, but your legal team will be able to help you.

The team at Lopez Law Group will help you craft the right legal request to ensure that you and your family are protected from the actions of someone who has harmed you or threatened to harm you.

Is the Injunction Permanent?

Sexual violence injunctions are permanent unless something significant changes in the nature of the situation between the victim and the aggressor. A court date is necessary to ensure that removing or ending an injunction is a wise decision. In all cases, injunctions of this kind are considered valid in every state in the US. This prevents aggressors from following victims to other states and beginning to take negative or violent actions against them again.

Many injunctions last for several years at a minimum. If your injunction is set to expire at a specific term date, you will be informed of what this kind of final date for your injunction means. Sexual violence injunctions are typically not limited in this manner, so you should ask your legal team for guidance if you have been told that your injunction will have an end date.

The Team at Lopez Law Can Help

If you have been the victim of sexual violence or you are reporting for a minor child, the team at Lopez Law can help. We work hard on behalf of those who have been victims of sexual violence to ensure that they are kept safe and are able to hold their aggressors accountable for their actions. It can be scary to file an injunction, but this is a critical first step in protecting yourself and your family from acts of violence and unwanted contact with someone who has caused you harm.

If you have suffered sexual violence or the threat of sexual violence, you need to reach out to us at Lopez Law. We can schedule you for a consultation and make sure that you get the legal protections that you deserve.

Related:

What is a Restraining Order in Florida

What is an Injunction in Florida?

Domestic Violence Injunction

Dating Violence Injunction

Divorce Lawyers in Florida