Rodman Investigated For Sexual Battery In Orange County Bar Incident
Barely a week after OJ Simpson’s much-publicized arrest in Las Vegas on robbery and kidnapping charges in connection with sports memorabilia, basketball’s bad boy Dennis Rodman got into his share of trouble yet again. According to the celebrity Web site TMZ.com, Rodman is now being investigated for slapping a woman’s rear at Hennessy’s Tavern in Dana Point.
The Web site quotes a source who says Rodman hit the woman so hard that it left a “major mark.” But Rodman’s agent denied those charges saying that this was just another woman trying to get money out of the former star rebounder.
“I’m sure the situation will work itself out in Dennis’ favor,” Darren Prince told TMZ. An Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman told the Web site would not confirm all the details, but simply said that a police report was taken at the bar “involving a man and a woman” and that the incident is being investigated by the department’s sex crime unit.
California Penal Code Section 243.4 (a) states that sexual battery has occurred when “any person who touches an intimate part of another person” and if the touching is “against the will of the person touched and is for the purpose of sexual arousal, sexual gratification or sexual abuse.” Sexual battery could be charges as a misdemeanor or a felony. Depending on the seriousness of the crime, it could even mean time in jail or state prison and fines of up to $10,000. A conviction will also mean that the person convicted must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
A sexual battery charge may not sound as serious as rape or sexual assault to a lay person, but the consequences, as explained above, can be serious. Any type of contact cannot be classified as sexual battery. The law specifically states that contact must have been made with “bare skin.” This means that the accused must have touched the bare skin of the victim’s intimate part.
More details have not been available about this specific incident, but it will be interesting to see if Rodman actually ends up getting charged.
