General Discussion Regarding Sex Offenses:

The following is a cursory discussion of the various sex offenses, potential consequences, and what to do if accused of  a sex crime.

Introduction:

These types of offenses range from low level class B misdemeanors up the most serious felonies some of which carry life in prison. If a person is charged with any type of sex offense, they should talk with an attorney competent in this area of the law as soon as possible. If you have been accused, charged, arrested, and/or indicted, don't wait until the system progresses on your case and causes you to miss windows of opportunity that could help your case or in some situations allow the case to be dismissed or no-billed at the grand jury level. I repeat, do not wait. Call an attorney now to discuss your case, especially if you have just been charged or became aware of an impending charge. We will provide a free phone consultation and anything discussed is totally confidential.

Sex Offenses Can Have Grave Consequences

Sometimes even the low level misdemeanors can serious repercussions. For example, the class B misdemeanor of Indecent Exposure could, if a second conviction for that offense, result in you having to register as a sex offender. This would cause your picture and name to be on the internet and result in other bad consequences. The more serious charges such as aggravated sexual assault could cause you to go to prison from 5 to 99 years to life and, even if you get some type of probation, you may have to register as a sex offender for life. In some cases, you may even be committed to an institution after you serve your time. In one of the most serious charges, continuous sexual abuse of child, a person cannot get probation and would be sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in the pen. On top of all of that, if you have children, in serious cases, CPS may come and take them away from you and may not give them back unless you are found not guilty or the case is no-billed. Don't hesitate. Call us and let's discuss the situation.

Some of the More Common Sex Offenses That We Have Handled:

Misdemeanor Sex Offenses:

Several misdemeanor offenses were mentioned above. Some misdemeanors could result in having to register as a sex offender and some don't. Even for ones that don't, it still does not look good on your record. If you have a misdemeanor sex offense on your record, call us, we may be able to get it sealed or expunged.( for information on sealing or expungements, click here). One misdemeanor that we handle occasionally is Public Lewdness. Sounds bad but basically if you had sex in the back seat of your car and were discovered, that would be public lewdness. You do not have to register and the case can be sealed if handled properly. Indecent exposure occurring only once would not require registering. If happened twice, it may.The point being is that if only a misdemeanor, don't trivialize and take very serious.

Felony Sex Offenses:

We handle many felony sex offenses, actually more than misdemeanors. One type we handle quite often is Indecency with a child; this would be a person under 17. This charge can be  a second or third degree felony carrying up to 2 to 20 years or 2-10 years respectively. It would require sex offender registration most likely for life. This type of case, as most sex offense charges, can be fairly complicated to handle,  thus you  will need someone experienced in defending this type of charge. Another type we handle is sexual  assault, which is basically someone forcing themselves on another; usually a second degree felony.  If it is a child under 14, it is aggravated sexual assault and is a first degree felony (5 to 99 years) and registration.

Sex Offender Registration:

The more serious sex offenses require registering as a sex offender. This could be a 10 year period to life, depending on what the charge is. On the other hand, some sex offenses do not require registration. It is a little too complex and voluminous to go into here on which ones do and which ones do not. Suffice to to say, having to register as a sex offender destroys your reputation. It entails registering with the police depart or the sheriff's department in the area that you are in. Some offenses will not allow you to live near a school or location where children gather. Also, the address and name of the person that registers is also placed on the internet. This means that someone in a neighborhood can do a search to see if there are any sex offenders living the area. A related note here on the requirement to register for life: there is Federal law that may allow a person to terminate having to register as a sex offender after 15 years.

What to do charged or arrested:

Hopefully it has been shown here that the consequences of sex offenses are drastic and Draconian and no one should attempt to face these types of charges without an attorney that is competent in this area of the law. I again repeat, do not wait. Call an attorney now to discuss your case, especially if you have just been charged or became aware of an impending charge of this type. You can call us at 972-722-0887 or text us at 972-814-7318 to setup a free confidential phone consultation. In the meantime, you should not discuss it with anyone except and attorney.  Even your most trusted confidant could end up being subpoenaed and forced to testify about what you told them regarding the case.  If you email or text us, do not put any facts connected to the case in the communication.

What we will do if hired to handle your case:

If hired on your case, we investigate it thoroughly. This includes ordering and getting evidence from the prosecutor's office, questioning pertinent witnesses, viewing forensic video exams of the victim, and so forth. We will develop what we think is a viable course of action and discuss it with you. Our firm has and does effectively handle many cases of this type from the lowest levels to the most serious and would be glad to discuss your situation and options. Some of our results have been to get many clients no-billed in the grand jury (this usually means the end of the case), to get the sex charge changed to a non sex charge which avoids having to register as a sex offender, getting the court to place a person on probation instead of sending him to prison, getting a special type of probation which allows the case to be dismissed at a later date, getting the charge reduced to a misdemeanor, and other satisfactory outcomes for our clients. If a trial is necessary we will use all of our skills to achieve a not guilty verdict for you. Our guarantee to any client is that we will do the best we can on his/her case and strive for the best outcome we can achieve. We stress being courteous, compassionate, and non-judgemental when consulting with our clients. Call us at 972-722-0887 or text us at 972-814-7318  to discuss your options.