An 18-year-old Bartlesville man has been jailed on a complaint of first degree rape after an 11-year-old girl said the two had sex earlier this summer.
First Degree Rape Charges
Police say Kaleb Williams lived in Dewey at the time of the alleged incident, in which she says the pair had sexual intercourse behind a Boys and Girls Club after the facility had closed. Neither the suspect nor his accuser are members of the club, say officials. Williams has since moved to Bartlesville.
Dewey police became aware of the allegations after the girl told her family members and a therapist that she and Williams had sex "during the summer of 2014." Reports say the girl made the allegation sometime prior to August 28.
Williams acknowledged that he was an acquaintance of the girl, but denied the allegations, telling an investigator, "I know [her]. This is bull----." However, police say they "know" of at least one sexual encounter between the 18-year-old man and 11-year-old girl.
Of course, one may wonder how they could "know" without having witnessed the alleged act themselves.
Williams was arrested on a first degree rape complaint and held on $50,000 bond.
In Oklahoma, rape is classified as either first degree rape or second degree rape (read more). Second degree rape is the less serious offense. Often known as "statutory rape," second degree rape typically occurs through a consensual sexual encounter between an adult and another person who is unable to provide legal consent.
Circumstances of Statutory Rape
The victim in a second degree rape case may be a teenager, aged 14 or 15, who has not yet reached the age of consent to sex with an adult aged 18 or older. It may also be a teenager or adult aged 16 or older who has reached or surpassed the age of consent, but is unable to provide legal consent because of custodial, supervisory, or student status.
For example, a student under the age of 20 cannot legally consent to sex with any employee aged 18 or older of the same school district the student attends. Likewise, a jail or prison inmate cannot legally consent to sex with a law enforcement agent or an employee of the department of corrections.
Second degree rape is punishable by 1 to 15 years in prison.
First degree rape is typically what the general public thinks of when they hear the word "rape." Among other things, it involves forcible rape, child rape, and date rape in which the perpetrator drugs the victim as a means of forcing submission.
Oklahoma law lists seven specific acts of first degree rape or first degree rape by instrumentation. Sex with person under the age of 14 by a person aged 18 or older is always prosecuted as first degree rape, regardless of how the act was accomplished: force, fear, drugs, manipulation, or other act of violence or persuasion.
By statute, first degree rape is punishable by a death sentence; however, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty is unconstitutional for crimes other than aggravated murder. The actual enforceable penalty is 5 years to life or life without parole.
Anyone serving less than a life sentence will be required to register as a sex offender for life.
Whether or not the allegations against the suspect are ultimately proven true or disproven as lies, the case goes to show just how quickly a mere accusation can turn someone's world upside down. If you or someone you love is accused of rape or other sex crime, contact a defense lawyer immediately for help.
