Sex offenses are complicated.
The greatest weight of the law is aimed at protecting innocent children from violent sexual predators. However, because of the way the laws are written, sometimes consensual sexually active teenagers may face the same criminal charges. A person under 17 who engages in sexual activity can be a defendant just as much as a victim. And depending upon the age of the client, he might find himself as a minor but in the adult criminal system.
The problem is that both the juvenile justice system and the adult system use the same set of criminal laws regarding sex offenses. It doesn’t take long to realize that this is a poor fit: sexual exploratory behaviors that children have as part of sexual development can and sometimes are criminalized under the law.
Because there are so many different aspects to sex crimes, we start with the different permutations of who can be charged with a sexual assault in Texas and in which court system:
Adult criminal justice system
-Adult accused of sexually assaulting another adult
-Adult breaking into a house or attempting to sexually assault another adult
-Adult client accused of sexually assaulting a child
-Adult client accused of soliciting a minor online
-Adult client possessing or distributing child pornography
-Minor (17 years old) accused of sexually assaulting an adult
-Minor (17 years old) accused of sexually assaulting a child
-Juvenile certified as an adult accused of sexual assault
Juvenile criminal justice system
-Juvenile (10 – 16 years old) accused of sexually assaulting an adult
-Juvenile (10 – 16 years old) accused of sexually assaulting another child
-Juvenile (10 – 16 years old) accused of possessing or distributing “child pornography” (essentially, photographs of children their same age or even older).
Our discussion of sex offense prosecution and defense in Texas will attempt to consolidate relevant information that applies to both adults and juveniles charged with a sex offense. To the extent possible, we have sorted information regarding offenses against children as those that specifically involve allegations of sexual abuse by adults. Because of the sheer number of possible permutations, there are times when our information is far too general for the sake of consistency. If you have suggestions on how to improve the organization, please send me an e-mail at david@sg-llp.com and I’ll happily take a look. |
