United Educators recently did a five-year study that found a great increase in the number of claims being brought against institutions of higher learning by people who had been accused of sexual assault. The study found that 100% of the alleged perpetrators were male, and that 67% of them claimed that the school failed to correctly follow it’s own disciplinary procedures in handling the accusation of sexual misconduct.
Nearly all of those bringing cases against the schools claimed that the allegations were false, but that they were treated as if they were guilty of a sex offense simply by virtue of being charged. Being charted with sex crimes is a serious issue, immediately raising the question of what is a proper defense against sex crime charges.
Defense Against Sex Crime Charges: Proving Innocence
Many accusations of sex crimes come from existing relationships and can happen because someone is angry, bitter, or in some other way wants to hurt the accused. At other times, mutually agreeable sexual activity takes place, but one party later regrets having taken part. Sometimes accusing the other party of a sex crime helps to ease this regret or feelings of guilt. The first step in defense is attempting to marshal evidence that no crime took place at all.
Defense Against Sex Crime Charges: Examining Evidence
The first step in defending against a sex crime charge is looking at the evidence being brought against the person being charged. This evidence can be challenged, and there are specific, though limited, opportunities for the accused to counter any claim that they lacked consent for the sexual incident.
Defense Against Sex Crime Charges: The Alleged Victim
Often the age of the alleged victim and their capacity to consent to the sexual activity are crucial issues to a charge, and a sex crimes defense attorney will seek evidence proving that the person being charged reasonably believed that the alleged victim was able to consent and did so consent. The issue of the alleged victim’s age at the time can be tricky, as in many situations it does not matter whether or not the accused thought the alleged victim was of the age of consent: all that matters is whether or not they actually were. However, there is a limited defense against sex crime charges to be made if a sex crime attorney is able to show evidence that the accused reasonably believed the alleged victim to be of age, based on the alleged victim’s own specific statement that he or she was a certain age.
Defense Against Sex Crime Charges: The Right Attorney
The most important defense against sex crime charges is having the advice and expertise of an experienced lawyer. Any criminal record can create many difficulties in a person’s professional and personal life, and sex crime accusations and convictions are some of the worst. When a person is charged with a sex crime, the first instinct is often to try to explain everything: to the alleged victim, to family, to the police, or to employers. The best thing to do instead is to call an attorney, explain the situation only to them, and find out what defense against sex crime charges is possible.