Child sexual assault cases can pose the most significant difficulties for criminal defense attorneys, especially in politically conservative states whose legislatures have erected evidentiary and procedural roadblocks to an effective defense. And it is in these same states, such as…
Category: Sexual Abuse
2021
Sex offenses are among the most severe in Texas. If you or someone you love is accused of a sex crime in this state, they will face, if convicted, harsh sentencing and extreme sex offender registration upon release. Unfortunately Texas…
2021
Category: Crimes Against Children | Criminal Law | Sex Crimes | Sexual Abuse
Following the horrendous kidnapping and murder of nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford in 2005, Florida enacted Jessica’s Law. The statute was intended to create tough penalties for sex offenders, such as 25-year minimum sentences for certain offenses and a lifetime of electronic…
2019
Category: Sex Crimes | Sexual Abuse
The sports world is still reeling from the Larry Nassar scandal—the tragic saga about the once well-respected doctor for the USA National Gymnastics team who was charged in 2016 with criminal sexual conduct against the very athletes he was supposed…
2019
Category: Corruption | Sex Crimes Against Children | Sex Trafficking | Sexual Abuse
U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra recently issued a ruling that federal prosecutors who negotiated a 2008 plea deal with billionaire Jeffery Epstein violated the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act of 2004 (“CVRA”). Judge Marra ruled that the…
2018
Category: Sex Crimes | Sexual Abuse
Michigan state court Judge Rosemarie E. Aquilina recently sentenced Dr. Lawrence Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison in the wake of 156 women and girls, mostly gymnasts, telling the court that the former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State…
2018
Category: Sex Crimes Against Children | Sexual Abuse
Statutory rape is sexual intercourse with a person under the age of consent. In colonial-era America, the age of consent was 10 in some states, while 12 in others. This remained the case until the 1890s when a coalition of…
2018
Category: Sex Crimes | Sexual Abuse
Texas has always maintained a colorful love affair with prostitutes. The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) informs that as early as 1817 when Texas was still a Spanish province, prostitutes were distributing their wares in San Antonio (known as San…
2017
Category: Sex Crimes Against Children | Sexual Abuse
According to by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, the state of Texas has a “plague” in its school system—improper relationships between educators and students. Reportedly, this plague has been spreading since 2010.
In a January 2015 article, the Washington Post reported…
2017
Category: Human Trafficking | Sex Crimes | Sex Crimes Against Children | Sex Trafficking | Sexual Abuse
Crimes against children, especially sex offenses, receive more significant law enforcement attention that other criminal offenses. Texas is on the precipice of establishing a special unit specifically designed to handle child sex and human trafficking cases.
Last month Texas…