Sex assaults that leave victim pregnant warrant tougher penalty, court rules
The California Supreme Court decides unanimously that such pregnancies amount to 'great bodily injury,' and offenders can get a more severe sentence.
A sexual assault that leaves a victim pregnant may be punished more severely than one that did not result in pregnancy, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously today.
The court ruled in the case of Gary W. Cross, who repeatedly had sexual intercourse with his 13-year-old stepdaughter while her mother worked. The teenager became pregnant, and Cross arranged for her to have an abortion. Because she was 22 weeks pregnant, she had to have a surgical abortion.
The court upheld a jury's finding that the pregnancy amounted to "great bodily injury," subjecting Cross to a tougher sentence. But the court said the abortion did not satisfy the legal test for such an injury because Cross did not personally perform it.
maura.dolan@latimes.com
