You probably never want to be in a position where you need to hire a sex crimes lawyer. If you’re in this spot, most likely you are either an assault victim, or else you’re facing some potentially serious charges. In either case, there is a life disruption taking place, and you won’t be able to move on until you can resolve it satisfactorily.
We’ll be talking about the second scenario, where you need to hire a sex crimes lawyer to defend you against an allegation. There are several situations where you’ll need this sort of attorney on your side, so let’s go over some of them right now.
You Face an Indecent Exposure Allegation
If you face an indecent exposure charge, that’s one time you will need a sex crimes lawyer on your side. When most people think about this charge, they imagine a man in a dirty raincoat flashing joggers in the park or pulling his pants down in front of a public school. However, what happened might be more innocent and completely accidental.
Perhaps you face this charge because:
- You tried to engage in public sex with your spouse or partner
- You had an inopportune wardrobe malfunction
These are embarrassing situations, but they do happen. For example, maybe you’ve been married to your spouse for years, and you decide to spice up your love life. Perhaps you try to arrange a tryst in a public place, and someone spots you and calls the police.
Maybe you’re surfing, and a wave knocks you off your board. You’re okay, but you lose your swim trunks, and then some people walking along the beach spot you. They notify a cop, and you’re suddenly looking at charges.
If something like this happens, you might be able to get the court to dismiss the charges, but you’ll certainly need an experienced attorney to help you.
You Face a Prostitution Charge
Some people call prostitution the world’s oldest profession. Maybe that’s true, or perhaps it isn’t, but many individuals engage in sex work if they need the money badly enough.
If you face a prostitution charge:
- It can impact your life in negative ways
- You have to understand how serious a conviction can be
You might feel like what you did was fairly innocuous. What took place happened between two consenting adults.
If you get a prostitution conviction, though, the government can take your kids away if it feels like they are not safe with you. If you have another job society considers more legitimate, you could lose it if your boss finds out you have a sex work conviction on your record. You have to take this charge seriously and get a lawyer who can fight for you.
You Face an Underage Sex Charge
Maybe you’re over twenty-one, and you meet someone at a club. You hit it off and go home with them. One thing leads to another, and you become intimate.
Afterward, you discover the individual with whom you became physical was underage. You might face a statutory rape charge.
These situations can get ugly fast. You’ll certainly need a lawyer, and a good one, too. If you lose this case, you could face some jail time, and you’ll probably have to go on the sex offender’s registry as well.
You can argue that, because the individual was in a club that served alcohol, you had reason to assume they were of legal age. However, situations like this make it clear why you should check a person’s ID before getting intimate with them if you have the slightest inkling that they’re younger than they say they are.
You Face Sexual Assault Charges
You could face a sexual assault charge. This is another very serious situation, but you might face such a charge even if you feel you did nothing wrong.
Maybe you got intimate with someone you met, and they never told you to stop. Later, they might regret that intimate contact, and they decide to press charges against you.
If this happens, you need to fight the charges vigorously. If you receive a conviction, that will mean jail time again and likely a place on the sex offender’s registry when you get out.
Sexual misconduct allegations can be tricky, and a conviction in this area can mess your life up quite a bit. If you’re in any of the scenarios we described, make sure you get an excellent lawyer to defend you.