In Campbell v. Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that rape under G.L. c. 265, § 22 qualifies as a predicate offense under the “force clause” of the pretrial detention statute, G.L. c. 276, § 58A.
The defendant appealed a 12-year prison sentence, arguing that his sentence was excessive given that there was no evidence he used violent force or penile penetration.
Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, No. 4. ÚS 3248/24 (2025) on the right to adequate rape investigations.
In the case Nelson v. Commonwealth, the appellant, who was dating the 14-year-old victim’s cousin, showed the victim an explicit picture of his genitals and later touched her genitals while she slept. The appellant was convicted of aggravated sexual battery in the trial court, and he appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to prove the element of force. Aggravated sexual battery requires proving that the accused intentionally sexually molested a victim who is between 13 and 15 years old through nonconsensual force.
A 17-year-old hearing impaired and non-verbal Filipina national reported being raped by her 19-year-old neighbor in 2006. The case remained at the trial court level for five years before the Regional Trial Court of Pasig City acquitted the defendant in 2011. Similar to a previous case heard by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Tayag Vertido v.
The victim and her husband lived with the appellant and the appellant’s girlfriend. The victim, accompanied by her sister, came home and knocked on the door to be let in because the door was latched. The appellant opened the door, and then he grabbed the victim’s breasts and twisted “as hard as he could” for about a minute. The appellant was charged and convicted of sexual battery, which requires proving that the accused sexually abused someone with nonconsensual force. On appeal, he contended that the evidence did not support finding that the force requirement was met.
Criminal Code § 185 of Act No. 40/2009 Coll., Rape, as amended.
