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Miami Criminal Defense Attorney
There is no crime that carries with it the stigma of a sex crime. In sex cases, not only are they almost always felony cases punishable by significant prison time, if you are convicted of a sex crime, you will almost assuredly have to register as a sexual predator or sexual offender for the rest of your life.
Registration usually includes conditions restricting where you live and where you go. Due in part to highly publicized heinous crimes committed by sex offenders, these laws are very strict in Florida and often do not distinguish between a consensual sexual act by two teenagers and a forcible rape, or crime against a child.
Even being charged with a sex crime is often very damaging to someone because of the damage it does to a person's reputation, regardless of the eventual outcome. It is important to contact an attorney as soon as you become aware that you are being investigated for such a crime. Sex crimes are the most important crimes to have confident representation due to their very serious nature and consequences. Unfortunately, these are crimes where people are sometimes falsely accused due to the one-on-one, no witness, nature of crime.
Laws are not only getting tougher, legislators are creating new laws regarding criminal sexual activity now. Many of these crimes are computer sex crimes that either involve the person looking at sexual images of children or going into chat rooms or internet sites trying to lure people/children into sexual acts. Some of the more common crimes in Florida are listed below.
Sexual Battery, commonly known as rape, means the oral, anal, or vaginal penetration by, or union with, the sexual organ of another or the anal or vaginal penetration of another by any other object.
Capital Sexual Battery (where the victim is under the age of 12) is punishable by life in prison. Most other types of sexual battery are punishable by anywhere from 15 years to life in prison depending on the age of the defendant and victim. There are other factors such as the forcible nature of the crime and the victim's state of mind play a big role in these cases.
Being convicted of any type of sexual battery will likely result in classification as a sexual predator or sexual offender. If you go to prison for a violent sexual act, no matter the sentence, you will not be released until an independent review board determines that you are no longer a danger to society. The standard of review for civil commitment of sex offenders is much lower than the usual criminal standard. A defendant can be involuntarily and indefinitely committed to an appropriate secure facility for further treatment, even after the initial sentence has been served, pursuant to the Jimmy Ryce Act.
These are lesser crimes than sexual battery and are broken down into 3 different categories:
1) Lewd and Lascivious Battery
Where a person engages in sexual activity with a person 12 years of age or older but less than 16 years of age; OR encourages, forces, or entices any person less than 16 years of age to engage in sadomasochistic abuse, sexual bestiality, prostitution, or any other act involving sexual activity. This is a felony of the 2nd degree, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
2) Lewd & Lascivious Molestation
Where a person intentionally touches in a lewd or lascivious manner the genitals, breasts, genital area, or buttocks, or the clothing covering them, of a person less than 16 years of age, or forces or entices a person under 16 years of age to touch the perpetrator. These crimes can be punishable by life in prison if the offender is over 18 years of age and victim is under 12. Otherwise, it is either a 3rd degree felony (when the offender is less than 18 and the victim is between 12 and 15 years old), or a 2nd degree felony in all other scenarios.
3) Lewd & Lascivious Conduct
Where a person intentionally touches a person under the age of 16 in a lewd or lascivious manner; or solicits a person under 16 years of age to commit such an act . These are 2nd degree felonies when the offender is 18 years of age or older and 3rd degree felonies when the offender is under 18.
4) Lewd & Lascivious Exhibition
Where a person intentionally masturbates, intentionally exposes the genitals in a lewd of lascivious manner; or intentionally commits any other sexual act that does not involve actual physical or sexual conduct with the victim AND is committed in the presence of a victim who is less than 16 years of age. If the offender is over 18 years of age, it is a 2nd degree felony and a 3rd degree felony if the offender is under 18.
All of these crimes involve registration as a sexual offender or sexual predator, depending on the nature of the crime.
In Florida, a sexual offender or sexual predator is required to notify law enforcement of where they are living immediately after release from incarceration. Furthermore, each time a sex offender changes residence, he/she must immediately notify law enforcement. In recent years, if a sex offender missed the exact registration requirements by a few days, the State would frequently allow them to correct the problem without punishment. Now, even if the registrant misses the requirement deadline by an hour, the State will often seek to put the offender in prison.
In many cases, all it takes to charge someone with a sex crime is a baseless accusation. If you believe you are the target of such an investigation or if you have been charged with any sex related crime, it is in your best interest to call our office to discuss your case. We have both prosecuted and defended various sex related crimes.
I have prosecuted these cases before so I am very aware of the dire consquences these crimes create. Contact me today to review your case.
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