Presenting Defenses in Sex Crime Cases Involving Minors
Sex crimes involving adults and minors, or even between minors, are typically charged as felonies, and consent will get you nowhere as a defense — after all, the essence of statutory rape is an underage person's inability in the eyes of the law to consent to sex. If you need advice about the best ways to deal with charges of statutory rape or other sex offenses involving young people, contact Cox Law, PLLC in Boise for a free consultation.
Call 208-287-2008 for Advice About Your Criminal Defense Options
There are two different ages of consent under Idaho law, 16 and 18, and which one applies in a given case depends on the age of the defendant. All sexual contact and conduct involving young people under 16 is considered unlawful, even if the participants are the same age and all such relations are entirely consensual. Teens aged 16 and 17 can legally engage in sexual conduct unless there's an age difference of five years or more between the teen and the older person.
In other words, if you're over 21, you run the risk of prosecution for sex with a 16-year-old, and if you're over 22, you can get in serious trouble for relations with a 17-year-old. The specific conduct forbidden runs the full range from soliciting or enticing a minor for sex to sexual intercourse or other sex acts. Statutory rape can be punished as severely as sexual assault, with maximum sentences ranging from 15 years to life.
Whether between minors or between an adult and a minor, other offenses can also lead to serious punishment — sexting, cell phone storage or transmission of nude photos, child porn, or soliciting minors (or law enforcement officers impersonating minors) for sex in online chat rooms.
We Know How to Fight Statutory Rape and Underage Sex Crime Charges
At Cox Law, our attorneys make a thorough investigation of the facts with the focus on motivation. It often develops that underage sex offenses are based on exaggerated or fabricated charges of sexual misconduct following a failed relationship or some other basis for revenge.
Accusations of sex with a minor seldom come out of the blue and usually involve people who know each other. Our lawyers represent juveniles, college students, teachers, coaches, youth group leaders and other adults whose work with young people presents a continuing risk of sex crime charges. We also represent licensed professionals in situations where criminal charges lead to separate administrative disciplinary proceedings.
We're not especially interested in compromising the charges if we have anything at all to work with at trial. Our focus on protecting our client's interests at every stage of the case helps us develop and apply leverage to the defendant's advantage. This can result in the dismissal or reduction of felony charges, a sentence of probation on a guilty plea, or a winning trial strategy.
For additional information about the ways we work to protect clients charged with sex crimes involving minors, contact Cox Law, PLLC in Boise.
