Sex Crimes

• Sexual Battery (Rape)
• Lewd and Laviscious Crimes
  
• Internet Related Sex Crimes
• Failure to Register as a Sex Offender

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 LIFE.

Registration usually includes conditions restricting where you live and where you go if you are convicted of a sex crime. 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 defendant'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.

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SEXUAL BATTERY (RAPE)
Sexual Battery 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.
Furthermore, being convicted of any type of sexual battery will likely result in classification as a sexual predator, which is explained further below. If you go to prison for a violent sexual act, no matter the sentence, the defendant will not be released until an independent review board determines that the defendant is 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.

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LEWD AND LASCIVIOUS CRIMES                                              
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.

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INTERNET RELATED SEX CRIMES
These are newly enacted laws based on using computers and/or the internet as a conduit for sexual crimes. In a nutshell, it is illegal to solicit sex from a minor on the internet in any fashion. These crimes are the subject of  ongoing investigation on Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator" series. Incidentally, there have been highly publicized "stings" in Florida and there are thousands of police officers whose full time job is to catch sexual predators on the internet.

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FAILURE TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER
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. There are no cases where it is more important have the representation of a competent attorney than sex crimes.

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SUMMARY
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.

To find out more about the sexual predator and offender laws, check out the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's website under 'sexual offenders' at http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/a-z_index.html or http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/OGC/Legal_Bulletins/lb9802_12-18.html


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