Crimes concerning sexual assault, either with a minor or adult, are very serious and carry long prison sentences. More importantly, any conviction requires life time registration as a Sex Offender. If you are an adult and accused of having sexual relations with a child under 12, then the charge is called Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault and it carries a minimum of 6 years in the penitentiary. If you are an adult and accused of having sexual relations with a person 13-16 years old you will be charged with Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse and that carries a minimum of 3 years. Crimes involving force or threat of force (rape) are called Criminal Sexual Assault or Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault if a weapon is used and that carries a minimum of 6 years.
Child Pornography is also a very serious crime and carries a mandatory life-time registration as a Sex Offender. We have defended these cases in State and Federal Court. Unfortunately, the Federal government is getting more involved in prosecuting child pornography cases, and the penalties in the Federal system are much more significant.
After defending people charged with these crimes for more than twenty years, I have had my share of wins which you can read about below. Understanding how to defend these cases is very important and takes years of experience. For instance, the prosecutor may try and bring in evidence from other cases to get a conviction (proof of other crimes) or may try and get testimony from children who are not qualified to testify. We understand these motions and will fight them vigorously. Often the prosecutor will put forth these motions because they have very little evidence a crime was actually committed.
In rape cases we have successfully defended wrongly accused men and women. Many of these cases are fabricated, and you need an attorney to vigorously fight the charges. We use investigators to interview witnesses and experts to challenge DNA evidence to protect you. Your case is too important to trust the State’s evidence.