What crosses the line between Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault?

Wouldn't the line be crossed from verbal dirty jokes, "come ons", bribery, and threats, be crossed once there was unwanted PHYSICAL contact? Is the threshold line crossed when there is unwanted genital contact, even if no rape actually occurred? I would think so. My feeling is that Hermain Cain crossed that line the minute he put his hand up her skirt.

Any legal experts care to comment?

The fucker should be going to jail, not running for office.

charges of sexual assault. The only thing I wonder about is the Statue Of Limitations, which might be 7 years.

but I'm not a lawyer so who knows.

I think if the context is sexual and I've said 'no not interested' then any intentional touching - not just genital or otherwise 'inappropriate', ANY at all - after that point within that encounter would be assault.

hands near or intended for the genitals and pushing someones head towards a crotch would qualify.

If one person in this relationship makes unwanted sexual advances or demands sexual favors in the context of the business relationship, it could be considered illegal sexual harassment. Key, however, is that the harassment must occur within the professional relationship. A dentist who repeatedly offers a patient free treatment in exchange for sex may be committing sexual harassment, but a dentist who gropes a woman in a bar is not. (That dentist, however, may be guilty of assault and battery, which we'll explore later in this article.)

To qualify as sexual harassment, several conditions must exist:

•The harasser and victim must have a professional relationship, similar to the relationships described above.
•The victim must make it clear that the sexual advances are unwanted. In other words, a consensual sexual relationship would not be considered sexual harassment.
•The victim must be unable to easily end the professional relationship. For example, if an apartment manager repeatedly harasses a tenant, it might be difficult for the tenant to break his or her lease and pay to move to another apartment complex. However, if an apartment manager sexually harasses a prospective renter, the potential renter could just walk out and find another apartment to rent.
Assault & Battery
That dentist who gropes a woman in a bar isn't committing sexual harassment. He may, however, be guilty of committing assault and battery.

Assault is an intentional act that causes apprehension or fear of imminent harm. One person threatening to rape another may be guilty of assault even if no sexual contact occurs because the mere threat was enough to make the victim fearful.

Battery is intentional physical contact with a person without his or her consent. It must result in physical pain, injury or be offensive to a reasonable person. If someone gropes you, for example, that could be considered battery. But if someone unintentionally bumps into you or is pushed into you in a crowded space, it wouldn't be battery because the action wasn't deliberate

Is guaranteed to cross into the definition of sexual assault, or whatever it's called in your jurisdiction.

Two separate offenses against the person that when used in one expression may be defined as any unlawful and unpermitted touching of another. Assault is an act that creates an apprehension in another of an imminent, harmful, or offensive contact. The act consists of a threat of harm accompanied by an apparent, present ability to carry out the threat. Battery is a harmful or offensive touching of another.

The main distinction between the two offenses is the existence or nonexistence of a touching or contact. While contact is an essential element of battery, there must be an absence of contact for assault. Sometimes assault is defined loosely to include battery.

Assault and battery are offenses in both criminal and Tort Law; therefore, they can give rise to criminal or civil liability. In Criminal Law, an assault may additionally be defined as any attempt to commit a battery.

since she wasn't an employee at the time of the encounter. It might be very similar to the so called "casting couches" situations. Do this for me, and I will give you a job. I just cannot see the Sexual Harassment (workplace) aspect of it.