Are you looking for the most qualified sex offense attorney Georgia? Then you are in the right place. Being convicted of a sexual offense can be devastating. Being merely charged with such an offense can turn your life upside down. That is the reason our sex offense lawyer will endeavor to make sure that you have great representation and beat the unwarranted charges.
There are different categories of sex crimes in Georgia, and our attorney strategizes and defends against them with the help of tried and true defense techniques and strategies.
Keep on reading to find out more about the sex offender lawyer in our firm.
1. What Are The Types of Sex Offenses in Georgia?
- Aggravated Child Molestation or Child Molestation- the first of these, upon conviction, can result in a huge sentence with no parole.
- Rape or Statutory Rape
- Minor Solicitation
- Sexual Assault or sexual battery
- Stalking- this need not be sexual in nature but sometimes it is
- Public Indecency
- Prostitution or Pimping
- Solicitation of Minors
- Internet Sex Crime- this again could involve soliciting minors or sending out pornographic images or “revenge” porn or clandestinely filming someone in a compromising position and uploading to the internet.
2. How Helpful Are Sex Offender Lawyers In Georgia?
1. Effective Defense Strategies
It is the responsibility of a sex crime attorney in Georgia to ensure that they use different defense tactics which will ensure that the prosecution’s case is halted or undermined in some way or the other. Examples are the filing of a Motion to Suppress, or the filing of a pretrial demurrer, and the employment of an expert in proper interviewing techniques of interviewing children who are alleged to be victims of sexual crimes who will testify in court for the defense.
2. Specialized Expertise
A sex offense attorney in Georgia is someone who is familiar with the laws, particularly evidentiary rules ( for example the holding from Hatley) that have to be followed in a sex crime trial, and for pretrial hearings. Your sex crimes lawyer, due to experience, will also realize that more often than not it will be expedient to hire an expert in interview techniques that are used with children, if the allegation happens to be one where the child is cast as victim.
They ascertain weaknesses in the case brought forward by the prosecution, review the case, and come up with the best strategies for defense as occasioned by the circumstances of the case. They do other things such as subpoena DFCS records, school records, and speak with people who may know about the background of the alleged victim.
3. Resources
The sex crime attorney is also equally responsible for offering the needed support and investigation resources in investigating the case, obtaining evidence, and taking statements from witnesses.
4. Protection Of Rights
A sex crime attorney will file the necessary pretrial motions to make sure that the client’s rights have not been violated- for example, his or her computer or cellphone could have been seized in the absence of a search warrant, or a statement could have been obtained from the client under circumstances where the Miranda rights were not advised and yet the client was under arrest at the time.
3. Georgia Sex Crimes Defenses
1. Genuine Innocence
Once in a while, being in the wrong place means that one is likely to be booked by the police or charged with a crime. It must be remembered that even the police officers and the victims are not perfect and can make mistakes. Sometimes children can be manipulated to say things to serve the parent’s agenda- sadly, this seems to occur a lot in custody battles. Sometimes DFACS can get involved. A young mother will do what needs to be done to maintain custody of her beloved child – DFACS can cast the boyfriend as the “bad guy” and if the mother tries to defend the boyfriend, DFACS is there to remind the mother that if she does not protect her daughter , then custody can be taken from her. Just because an influence is subtle does not mean it’s non-existent or that it should be discounted. The jury needs to be educated on these subtle influences. If they are not, then things can go sideways for a defendant, with a quickness.
2. Mistaken Identity
The victim may have selected the wrong person because they were confused, and a guy like you was just right and ripe to be charged with a criminal offense.
Sometimes the police can be unknowingly very suggestive in how they present the lineups or the photographic arrays to witnesses and alleged victims. If so, a motion to suppress will be the “go to” method to deal with this due process violation.
- Consent
It is clear that several sex crimes in the state of Georgia , in terms of the required proof, require that the criminal act was committed without the consent of the victim. Any circumstances that could be described as the victim willingly engaging in the act would eviscerate the charge. Sometimes the alleged victim consents or does not clearly signal that the acts are not being permitted. For example, it is not illegal to have sex with a stranger. It only becomes illegal if force and coercion are employed, and the acts are performed in the absence of consent. Or obviously, it is illegal if the person is under the age of consent.
If this is the case, ( that is, if the defense is alibi or that the alleged victim consented) then our sex crimes attorney in Georgia will secure evidence that shows this to be the case. He will present that evidence forcefully to the jury and hopefully secure an acquittal.
4. Sex Offender Laws In Georgia
1. Rape
The penalty for rape is life imprisonment or imprisonment for a term of not less than twenty-five years but not more than a life imprisonment with a probationary period of life.
The Statutory Rape Defendant faces, upon conviction, imprisonment for not less than one year and not more than 20 years. If the defendant is twenty-one years of age or older, such person will be required to serve not less than ten years of imprisonment nor more than twenty years of imprisonment.
2. Sodomy
Aggravated sodomy is defined as the act of sodomy on the part of the man or the woman if done forcefully without consent on the part of the victim or where the victim is under the age of ten years. The act we are speaking of here, most typically, is contact of the mouth with the intimate area of the victim, typically the female sexual part or the anus.
The penalty for aggravated sodomy is 25 years of prison time; for a subsequent life term of no parole. A Georgia case of many years ago took the death penalty off the table. Under Georgia’s Romeo and Juliet laws, if the age difference is within a certain range, then the offense can become a misdemeanor. Those laws were introduced because enough people noticed that teenagers were going to prison for 10 years for consensual conduct- so they curbed the overzealous legislators who passed the Draconian legislation to begin with.
3. Sexual Battery
The action (in its “aggravated” form) is defined as an act in which an accused individual intentionally places any object other than the penis into the sexual organ or anus of another individual without the consent of such a person. In the case of ordinary sexual battery, it could be slapping the female on her behind or touching of her breast- or in its crass form, actually grabbing her crotch area.
This crime (the aggravated kind) brings about (upon a conviction) a mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison, then a term of limited lifetime probation, and can also attract a maximum of life imprisonment.
4. Child Molestation
The statute further provides that a person who is a first-time offender , committing child molestation shall be liable (after conviction) to be imprisoned for a term of 5 years to 20 years and to undergo counseling. First offender sentencing is not available, for this offense.
In the event of the second or any subsequent conviction, a term of 10 to 30 years is mandatory or life imprisonment where prescribed. Child Molestation is defined rather broadly, as any act done to, or in the presence of, the child whose purpose was to satisfy the accused’s sexual desires or the child’s.
5. Pimping
Crimes related to prostitution, such as pimping, pandering, and keeping a place of prostitution, are often prosecuted more severely than prostitution itself.
In those cases, punishments may be from five to twenty years of imprisonment and a fine of $ 2500 to $ 10000. A $2,500 enhancement shall be added if the crime occurred within one thousand feet of any school, place of worship, playground, or recreational facility primarily used by children. The goal of the legislature is to shut down the business of the pimp and his higher IQ relative ( the sexual trafficker) who does the activity on a large scale with a mercenary motive and devastating results for society and the younger and more vulnerable members thereof.
6. Solicitation
Solicitation is a criminal offense whereby one searches for an individual with the intent of paying them to engage in unlawful activities. Still, if a person solicits underage sex, they can get increased felony penalties that include imprisonment and a fine of $1,000 to $5,000.
For the crime of solicitation of a minor it is a felony, and penalties include 5 to 20 years imprisonment and a $2,500 to $10,000 fine. The most common way the perpetrator is ensnared is that , you will have a police officer operating on the internet, but posing as a minor, and engaging in frank sexual talk online with the suspect. It is a set up from the word Go, and the accused can face years in prison if convicted.
4. How To Choose The Best Sex Crimes Attorney In Georgia?
1. Reputation and Reviews
Read the recommendations and feedback posted by the lawyer’s previous clients in order to learn about their reputation.
2. Experience
Try to find the best lawyer on defending the client against sexual charges, who has much practice in the jury trial defense of such claims. An attorney with prior experience in dealing with cases similar to yours is in a better position to provide great representation. Ask the lawyer who you are considering hiring : “have you ever had a jury trial for child molestation and prevailed?” If you are asking this question to Attorney Lloyd Matthews, the answer is a resounding Yes!
3. Communication Skills
There is no better way to start your search for a sexual offense lawyer than by identifying one who provides the courtesy of promptly and clearly answering messages, and gives several free consultations- in short, somebody who makes the time to speak with you. Whatever you tell him is confidential and protected by attorney-client privilege.
4. Approach and Strategy
Discuss the likely strategies with the sex crime defense attorney you are consulting. If it is an allegation of a crime against a child, then the interviewing techniques used by the prosecution witnesses are going to be relevant and subject to attack. One reason is, for the protocols commonly used and endorsed in Georgia, it is hard for independent “non prosecution oriented” psychologists to secure that training. The prosecution takes advantage of this imbalance, and they will commonly emphasize the defense expert’s lack of knowledge about CornerHouse , ChildFirst, and the other common protocols used in Georgia. From the other perspective, the defense expert will call attention to the Confirmation Bias which commonly characterizes the prosecution experts. It very literally becomes a battle of the experts, where the accused’s future and livelihood are very much hanging in the balance. The sad sobering reality of this situation is, for average people in the “real world” they give very little thought to securing an expert- they tend to rely on the defense lawyer, and some defense lawyers may not be fully aware of the extreme importance of employing an expert on the side of the defense. People naively presume that “the truth will prevail”- whereas, sadly and all too often, it is not the truth which prevails, but rather whoever puts up the most persuasive case. And let’s face it- jurors are not experts, and like all of us they tend to punt, they tend to defer to the expert and what he or she is testifying about. Jurors are there under compulsion- they want to “do their job” and their civic duties but they are mainly focused on their own lives and thinking about their families and responsibilities. A common thought that a juror has is, why would this little victim come to court and embarrass herself and say all these things, if there was not at least some truth to it? The person accused of a sexual offense starts off the trial behind the proverbial eight ball. This may be deplorable but it’s nonetheless true! That is why a good attorney can be the difference between a lengthy prison term and freedom and the absence of stigma which only belong to the non-incarcerated person pursuing life, living, and loving, in the free world in the U.S. of A.
5. Fee Structure
Make sure that there is a clear and easy-to-understand fee structure from the attorney. The best sexual sex offense attorney working with a boutique firm will not ask for any hidden charges and will offer a billing plan characterized by transparency and predictability.
5. Why Should You Hire Our Sex Offender Attorney?
By hiring our sex attorney, Georgia, you are assured of getting professional legal advice. Our qualified lawyer fully understands and is literate in handling sexual offense cases.
Our sex offense lawyer is professional and highly qualified, and our practice has demonstrated effectiveness and experience with the defense of these types of cases. You will receive clear information, a personal approach, and strategic protection that is developed according to the unique facts of your case. There is no one size fits all in this arena.
6. Georgia Sex Offender Levels
Level 1
The level 1 sex offender category is limited to those persons who have committed a sexual offense for the first time and are not considered to pose a threat to society.
Level 2
Level 2 sex offender status implies the convicted offender who is at moderate risk for a reoccurrence of the crime if released back into “free society”.
Level 3
If one falls under this classification, then chances are high that they will be forced to wear an ankle bracelet, undergo polygraph testing, and be subject to other controls, as they are extremely threatening ( in terms of chance of recidivism) and possess high risks of committing repeated sexual offenses. These are sometimes referred to as the “predatory” sexual offender.
7. Georgia Rules For Sex Offenders Under Supervision
1. Distance
Lack of contact ( ie contact is strictly forbidden) with individuals under 18 years of age in person or via communication when attending any gatherings or social events, childcare facilities, schools, or other areas where any minors gather or any location or event mentioned.
2. Supervisory
No direct contact or supervisory responsibilities shall be provided or permitted in any capacity to any individual who has not attained the age of eighteen years. For the offender to possess pornography is strictly forbidden. For the offender to go on the internet is strictly forbidden.
3. Communication
The individual under supervision is restricted from having any form of communication with the victim, be it writing, telephones, Electronic gadgets (such as smart phones), text messages, or even through other people without permission from the Court, and such permission has to be in writing in the form of a so-called Court Order.
4. Employment
It is forbidden for offenders to get a job without the consent of a community supervision officer. In the job involves proximity to children, it will not be allowed.
8. What Is The Statute of Limitations on Sex Crimes in Georgia?
In the following states from the USA, the period of limitation for sex crimes is as follows: Georgia. It can be two years, four years, or seven years, as holdups in court are experienced. We saw this when Covid hit us in year 2020.
9. How Long Do Sex Offenders Have To Register In Georgia?
Sex offenders convicted and released within 72 hours have to personally report themselves to the sheriff of the intended county of residence.
For homeless offenders, they have to register themselves with the sheriff of the county in which they intend to reside. If an offender changes his address, he has to give prior notice to or inform the sheriff of the county.
Conclusion
Contact us to hire the best sex offense attorney in Georgia. We promise to provide you with the best service at the most reasonable fees. While we cannot guarantee an acquittal, what we do guarantee is that we will listen to you and present your best defense, and tenaciously argue for you in court and to the District Attorney. We will zealously defend you to the fullest extent of what the law allows.
