Sex-Related Crimes Attorney
in Commack, New York

District attorneys are relentless when prosecuting individuals for sex-related crimes. I began my legal career as a prosecutor, and there is a particular dislike for those charged with sex-related crimes, followed by an assumption of guilt rather than innocence.

Conviction penalties are severe. Moreover, registration as a sex offender follows you for the rest of your life. It affects where you can live, jobs you can hold, even custody of your children. There is often little distinction by the public between a misdemeanor offense and a felony. The label “sex offender” is all people need to see.

As a criminal defense attorney for more than 45 years, I believe that everyone accused of a crime — regardless of guilt or innocence — deserves the best possible defense, and that is what I strive to deliver to clients in Commack and Woodbury, New York, and in Nassau County, Suffolk County, and Central Islip. If you have a charge associated with a sex-related crime, I am ready to defend you as persistently as you will be prosecuted. Call me at the Law Offices of Douglas M. Reda for experienced legal guidance.

Sex-Related Crimes in New York

Any crime committed that has a sexual component is a sex-related crime. Threatening sexual harm or carrying it out and causing emotional or mental harm to someone using sex are sex-related crimes. In other words, the act of sex itself is not required to be charged with a sex crime in New York.

Some of the common sex-related crimes include rape, statutory rape, sexual misconduct, criminal sexual acts, forcible touching, predatory sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, lewdness, indecent exposure, indecency with a child, and child pornography charges.

Sex-related crimes range from misdemeanor forcible touching, which includes forcibly grabbing, pinching, or squeezing a sexual or another intimate part of someone’s body, to rape or repeated sexual contact with a child is first-degree felony offenses. A misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in prison. A first-degree felony is punishable by five to 25 years in prison. Second- and third-degree felony convictions are punishable by two to seven years in prison and 1-1/2 to four years in prison, respectively. There is generally a post-incarceration period of supervision for sex offenders of three to 25 years.

The severity of the charges increases depending on the age of the victim, disability, handicap, or consciousness of the victim, the force used, injury caused, and the commission of repeat or persistent offenses.

Another penalty of sex crimes is that those convicted of sex-related crimes must register with local law enforcement where they live and appear on the sex-offender registry for 20 years to life.

Potential Defenses for Sex-Related Charges

There are defenses your attorney may be able to use if you are charged with a sex-related crime. The first defense, of course, is that you are innocent. This could involve mistaken identity, or it might involve an alleged victim’s word against yours. Someone could be motivated by embarrassment, revenge, or financial incentives to allege rape or other sex offenses. It could also be an issue involving consent as defined under New York law.

Other common defenses include diminished mental capacity, insanity, and involuntary consumption of drugs or alcohol. In charges involving a minor, your attorney may raise a defense regarding misidentification of the victim’s age.

What is Consent in New York?

The law dictates that the victim lacks consent if the act was forcible or the victim did not expressly consent to the sexual contact. There is also a lack of consent if the victim cannot provide it due to age, mental disability or incapacitation, physical disability or incapacitation, or if the victim is in the custody of the actor.

What to Do When Accused

The most important thing you should do if you have been accused of a sex-related crime, even if you have not yet been arrested and charged, is to reach out immediately to a criminal defense attorney with experience. If arrested, do not answer any questions until you have spoken with your attorney.

You should also not contact the accuser in any way and avoid coming near them. Do not respond to a communication from the accuser, such as apologizing in text messages for any “misunderstandings.”