In legal terms, aggravation generally means that there are circumstances involved in a crime that tend to make the offense more serious. This is true regarding assault and aggravated assault in Georgia. Georgia Code Section 16-5-21 defines what makes an assault in the state aggravated rather than just a simple assault. Basically, the major difference between the crimes is the intent of the accused, or the size of the threat that the person poses. Aggravated assault, under the statute, includes assaulting another person with the intent to rape, rob or murder the victim, or when the person uses a weapon or object in the assault that is likely to cause great bodily harm to the person assaulted. An assault is also aggravated if it includes an object that could result in strangulation, or involves firing a gun from a vehicle. Aggravated assault is a serious crime and carries concomitantly serious penalties. A person convicted of aggravated assault in Georgia can be sentenced to between one and 20 years in prison. Further, there are special sentencing rules for certain types of victims. Committing aggravated assault on a police officer or corrections officer or a person over 65 years of age will carry a minimum sentence longer than a typical aggravated assault.