UNDERSTANDING THE BEST DEFENSES FOR SEXUAL OFFENSES
Anyone familiar with the consequences of sex crimes in VA will never commit such crimes. In this article, we will be analyzing what offenses are classified sex offenses in VA, the penalties imposed for such offenders, the role of lawyers in safeguarding the rights of such offenders. The popular belief that only rape, forcible sodomy, and object sexual penetration are serious sex offenses is utterly wrong, say VA lawyers. On conviction, individuals are considered as sex offenders on the commission of any of the crimes found in a list of sex offenses. Speak to sex crimes lawyers in VA to understand what other offenses are sex crimes and what aggravating circumstances can convert your misdemeanor to a felony sex crime.
Penalties For Child Pornography
Offenders charged with child pornography offenses should immediately contact lawyers who are proficient in handling such sex cases. Sex offenses in VA bring severe penalties such as several years of imprisonment or exorbitant fines. Offenders charged with such serious sex offenses should consult VA lawyers to understand how to protect themselves from any abuse of discretionary power by law enforcement officers in the course of the investigation. Child pornography charges result in the registration of the name of the accused in the sex offenders’ registration. Such registration greatly impacts your everyday life and your future. To avoid such irreversible consequences, offenders should take the advice of sex crimes lawyers experienced in defending sex crimes in VA such as The Law Offices of SRIS, P.C.
On being retained for representing offenders charged with child pornography crimes, VA lawyers will analyze the sex case, check for ways to cross-examining witnesses and other evidence to obtain a favorable order.
VA lawyers are now observing a sudden change in the pattern of sex offenses. In the past, offenders were frequently charged with possession of child porn content on their desktops or laptops. Today, there is a change in the pattern. Offenders these days are charged for possessing child pornographic content on their mobile phone, iPad, etc. Technology has changed the pattern of the offenses, say VA lawyers. The same technology has contributed to an increase in sex charges on innocent individuals who are not offenders. The rapid rise in technology has created a situation where there is a possibility of obscene content downloading on to one’s device by just a mere click. In these situations, people who are not offenders are being framed as accused.
Offenders charged with child pornography possession should take consultation of lawyers in VA. Offenders convicted for intentionally possessing child pornographic contents can be punished with a class six felony. It is a class five felony if the offenders are convicted for a second time for child pornography possession. The burden is on the prosecution to prove that the offenders knowingly and intentionally possessed the prohibited images, say VA lawyers.
Also, the prosecution will allege individuals to be offenders of child pornography laws in VA if it is proved that the alleged offenders reproduced, distributed, or possessed any illicit prohibited material relating to children. Offenders convicted for such child pornographic charges can be imposed with jail time of five to 20 years. For second-time sex offenders, the mandatory minimum period of imprisonment is five years, say VA lawyers. For any kind of child pornography charges, speaking to proficient lawyers in VA is essential. Without the aid and advice of experienced lawyers, as alleged offenders, you cannot proceed confidently with your sex charge in VA.
Rape And Sexual Battery
Offenders in VA can be charged with rape if sexual intercourse occurred against the wishes of the victim. VA lawyers will explain that other factors that determine the severity of the sex offense are the age of the victim, threat, intimation, force, etc.
VA sex law considers rape as serious sexual assault punishable as a felony, say VA lawyers. A rape charge can alter your life permanently. Whether or not you were proved guilty, the rape charge can affect your reputation in society. On being charged with rape, take the assistance of lawyers who can professionally analyze your sex case, ascertain all the favorable facts, and make use of the rights afforded by the constitution. Speak to experienced lawyers to understand the criminal process associated with punishing sex offenders. Professionally established lawyers are well acquainted with the sex crime procedures and can provide you clear directions on how to proceed. You and your lawyers can make an integrated effort to ensure that you are not listed with several other sex offenders in VA.
VA lawyers always insist that some facts can increase the severity of a rape offense such as the age of the accused, age of the victim, the mental capacity of the victim, whether the victim provided consent, etc. It is important to disclose all details of the facts of your sex case to the lawyers. Lawyers in VA can frame competent defenses to your sex offense only if you reveal all relevant details to the lawyers during the consultation. Concealing any information from VA lawyers due to the embarrassment associated with it can affect your sex case irreversibly.
In some sex cases, the accused can claim that the victims under 13 years had consented to the intercourse. However, such offenders are unaware that the law clearly states that a victim under 13 years is incapable of consenting to such intercourse. The existence of evidence that corroborates the statements of the victim can be a reversing point, say VA lawyers. Evidence including DNA reports, videos, photographs decides the direction in which the sex case will proceed against the offender.
Under VA law, offenders convicted for rape are imposed with a felony punishable with five years or life imprisonment based on aggravating factors involved in the sex case.
An accused can be convicted for sexual battery in VA when a victim is abused by the violation of one’s wills, by imposing threats, intimidation. The lawyers in VA will advise you that sexual battery can be committed by a person in authority. Such sex offenders include persons in supervisory posts in detention centers against innocent vulnerable inmates. It is important to note that sex offenders can be imposed with additional sex charges if one has sexually abused more than one complainant within two years. VA lawyers representing sex offenders will guide you if you have been charged for sexual battery based on improper touching. Improper touching or forceful touching of the victim’s intimate parts is also considered sexual battery.
Any sex offense of indecent exposure or consensual intercourse with a child is also considered as a sexual battery within the past ten years, making your subsequent offense a third offense. The third conviction is a felony with serious penalties. Such a third conviction for the sexual battery charge will result in sex offenders’ registration, say VA lawyers.
Take the assistance of adept VA lawyers for representation in your sexual battery charge in VA and obtain a dismissal of the sex charge. The lawyers at The Law Offices of SRIS, P.C. are known for the knowledgeable guidance they have offered to alleged offenders charged with sex crimes in VA.
Aggravated Sexual Battery
The aggravated sexual battery stems from an act of sexual battery but with aggravating factors, say VA lawyers. When a sexual battery is committed against a child less than 13 years, the accused can be charged with aggravated sexual battery. Also, when the sex offenders abuse victims who are physically or mentally incapacitated, or when the offenders use a weapon, or if the victims are between 13 to 15 years of age and the offenders’ abuse such victims by use of force, threat and intimation, these aggravating factors result in a conviction for aggravated sexual battery. VA lawyers experienced in representing such sex charges tell clients that aggravated sexual battery charges are serious because even if the victim initiated the incident, it does not result in the reduction of sentence.
Considering the serious consequences an aggravating sexual battery charge can bring, taking the support of knowledgeable VA lawyers is essential. Contact proficient lawyers in VA for your sex offense and understand the complications involved in defending your sex charge.
Forcible Sodomy
Lawyers in VA should be consulted when an accused is confronted with a forcible sodomy charge. Some acts that are punishable under the forcible sodomy laws are fellatio, cunnilingus, anilingus, anal intercourse, and other such prohibited sexual activity against a victim as mentioned under the forcible sodomy statute, say VA lawyers. The above-mentioned activities are punishable as forcible sodomy when the victim is a minor under 13 years, or when such prohibited activities have been performed by a force, threat, or intimidation, or when the alleged victim is physically or mentally incapable. Speak to lawyers in VA to understand more about the sex offense of forcible sodomy. Proficient VA lawyers will explain to you how the charge proceeds in VA courts. You should also ask about the penalties for forcible sodomy from lawyers in VA.
VA lawyers will also explain that the possible penalties for forcible sodomy can be five years to life imprisonment. If the complaining witness was under 13 years, then a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years is imposed, if the accused is three years older than the victim; and the prohibited act was part of another offense such as abduction, burglary, etc.
Carnal Knowledge Of Minor
Offenders will be charged with carnal knowledge of a child if he/she engages in sexual intercourse or any other sexual activity like fellatio, cunnilingus, anilingus, anal intercourse or object sexual penetration with a victim who is a child aged 13 to 15 years of age. If offenders are found guilty of carnal knowledge of a child, he/she will be punishable for a class 4 felony and may be imposed with a punishment of 2 to 10 years imprisonment and up to a ($100,000) fine.
In sex cases where the offenders are minors, the court may decide that the minors may be tried as adults. However, lawyers in VA take all efforts to ensure that such minor clients are tried as juveniles and not adults. Offenders charged with carnal knowledge of a child should hire lawyers experienced in handling such matters. Lawyers consulted by offenders charged with sex offenses are cautioned about the right to be silent when being interrogated by enforcement officers.
Offenders need to remain silent so that they do not utter any statement that may be used against them in court, say VA lawyers. Experienced lawyers in VA explain to clients that conviction cannot be imposed merely based on the statements of the victim. The court requires other corroborating evidence and the burden of proof is on the prosecution.
Infected Sexual Battery
Offenders imposed with an infected sexual battery charge should speak to VA lawyers immediately. VA law allows for imposing the sex charge of infected sexual battery if alleged offenders are proved to have engaged in sexual intercourse or anal intercourse with the victim with the motive of causing harmful infection such as HIV or Hepatitis B. If the prosecution proves that persons charged of infected sexual battery are offenders, then the act is punishable as a felony, say VA lawyers. Speak to VA lawyers to understand the technicalities of defense about the infected sexual battery. If VA lawyers can prove that the accused did not have the intention to cause such harmful infection, then the sex offense is considered as a class 1 misdemeanor.
Indecent Liberties With Child
When offenders are charged with indecent liberties of a child, they should bear in mind that it is a serious sex offense in VA. Proceeding with a sex charge without the advice of proficient lawyers can reverse the sex case against the offenders. VA law states that persons are offenders of the indecent liberties with a child statute if the alleged offenders intentionally expose their intimate parts to a minor child or propose that the child touch his/her private parts inappropriately or propose that the child touch the alleged offenders’ private parts.
Also, VA law states that if any individuals propose that the child perform any act of sexual intercourse, such persons are considered offenders of the indecent liberties with a child statute.
Offenders who have proved to have committed the above-mentioned acts are punished with a Class five felony.
How To Fight A Sexual Charge?
In most sex offense cases like rape, there are no witnesses and the only witnesses are the complainants and the offenders. The court is thus confronted with facts that contain more of what the offenders allegedly told or what the complainant allegedly told during the alleged crime.
In these situations, the role of experienced VA lawyers is vital. Proficient VA lawyers dealing with such clients discuss the facts of the sex case repeatedly with the client to understand what exactly transpired.
In rape cases, offenders generally claim that the incident occurred after the alleged complainant provided her consent. Thus, consent is a popular defense to rape. Offenders in Virginia will be glad to know that the burden of proving their innocence does not lie on the accused. It is the burden of the commonwealth to prove that the offenders committed the sex offense and all elements of the rape statute have been sufficiently proven. If offenders hire the services of experienced lawyers in VA, the sex charge can be dismissed by proving that the commonwealth attorney is unable to prove beyond doubt that the offenders were guilty of the rape charge.
Another popular defense by lawyers in sex offenses in VA is proving that the alleged sexual intercourse never occurred between the alleged offenders and the complainants. One of the methods of proving that such prohibited sexual activity never occurred is conducting DNA testing of the offenders and the complainants, say VA lawyers. Offenders wrongfully framed for rape charges in Virginia will be glad to know that DNA testing is important to establish the identity of offenders. By such testing, there is a possibility of establishing that the complainant had erred in identifying the accused and by her mistaken identification, she has wrongly alleged the accused to be the wrongdoer.
For a rape charge, the prosecutor must establish that the accused has acted by force or threat, or intimidation. Virginia defense attorneys will ascertain whether there is proof of force being used by the accused during the alleged incident. By proving that there was no force or threat during the alleged incident, lawyers in VA can obtain a dismissal in favor of the accused.
Sexual assault cases between a complainant and an accused who know each other can be complicated. In such sex cases, a major argument by Virginia lawyers is that the sex charge has been fabricated as a means of revenge against the accused. Having proficient lawyers by your side can alter the sex case in your favor. Lawyers experienced in handling such criminal matters will proficiently guide you after analyzing the facts of the sex case. You will understand your right to a fair trial after discussing your case with your lawyers.