Sex Crimes Defense
A sex-crime accusation changes a person’s life the moment it is made. Before any conviction, before any trial, the accusation alone can cost someone a job, a marriage, custody of children, and a reputation. These cases demand a defense that is built from the ground up, challenging everything: the complainant’s account, the forensic evidence, the investigative methods, and the State’s theory.
We have defended sex-crime cases for decades. We know how these investigations work, how these prosecutions are built, and where they are vulnerable.
Sexual assault
Sexual assault under section 22.011 of the Penal Code is a second-degree felony: two to twenty years in prison. Aggravated sexual assault under section 22.021 is a first-degree felony: five to ninety-nine years or life. Both require sex-offender registration upon conviction.
Texas requires no corroboration for sexual assault charges. A complainant’s testimony alone, if believed by a jury, is legally sufficient to support a conviction. That makes the defense lawyer’s job in these cases about credibility: the complainant’s motive, consistency, and the presence or absence of corroborating or contradicting evidence.
Online solicitation of a minor
Under section 33.021 of the Penal Code, it is an offense to use electronic communications to solicit a minor to meet for sexual contact or to send sexually explicit material to a minor. Most of these cases arise from undercover law enforcement operations where no actual minor is involved.
In Ex parte Lo, we successfully challenged a portion of this statute as unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously agreed, freeing our client and resulting in dozens of others getting out of prison or off the sex-offender registry. More about that case.
Crimes against children
Child pornography, indecency with a child, continuous sexual abuse of a child. These are among the most seriously punished offenses in Texas. A conviction for continuous sexual abuse carries a minimum of twenty-five years without parole eligibility. We defend these cases because everyone accused of a crime is entitled to a defense, and because false accusations happen more than you would like to believe.
Sex-offender registration
Most sex-offense convictions require registration under chapter 62 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The duration depends on the offense: ten years for most, lifetime for sexually violent offenses and most offenses against children. Registration carries restrictions on where a person can live and work, and failure to comply is a separate felony. We also handle prostitution and promotion of prostitution cases. See also federal sex crimes.
Talk to us
If you have been convicted, we handle appeals.
713-224-1747.