A sex crime is a very serious charge, but it is not always clear exactly what kind of criminal charge it is. Many people also do not know exactly what counts as a sex crime or when a lesser type of crime becomes a sex crime.
What is a Sex Crime?
A sex crime is, in short, any criminal action that revolves around sex. This could be sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual conduct with a minor (with or without their consent), selling sexual materials to a minor, or even failure to register as a previous sex offender.
It also does not have to be actively sexual to be a sex crime. You can still be marked as a criminal for indecent exposure even if nothing sexual occurs, this occurs when a person is naked and exposed but is clearly reckless about who sees and how they might affect others.
Sex does not need to occur for a sex crime to be valid. However, most sex crimes revolve around the act itself or the attempt to force sex on others.
Are Sex Crime Charges Always True?
False sex crime accusations are a major problem and have become much more common in recent years. While there are plenty of cases where the accusations are true and have evidence to prove them, others are more vague, and some are completely fabricated with no basis in the actual events that happened.
One of the more common false charges is when two people have consensual sex, but then one revokes consent later on and decides that they did not actually want it to happen. This can lead to situations where sex happened, but it was not a crime until later.
In other cases, these situations are simply completely fake, made up by the ‘victim’ to try and gain something from the person being accused. These can often seem quite believable and have unfortunately been carried out as real cases many times until they were proven fake months or years later.
What Do I Do If I’ve Been Accused?
If you have been accused of a sex crime – regardless of whether it is true or false – then you need a criminal attorney who can understand sex crime laws. Even if you did commit an actual sex crime, it can sometimes be exaggerated in a way that puts you at risk of greater punishments than you would normally get.
Work with your attorney to get a clear picture of why you were arrested, what the sex crime charges are, and what actually happened. Evidence might need to be gathered, especially if you are choosing to try and fight the charge on the grounds that it is totally or partially falsified.
Keep in mind that fighting a sex crime charge does not always mean you will be considered innocent. However, it can still give you lower punishments, downgrade the type of crime (especially if it was not actually a sex crime but has just been exaggerated by the accuser), or clear it from your record.
Remember: even a legitimate sex crime can be fought if the accused person thinks that there is cause to do it. This could simply be to lower the punishments or try to downgrade the actual severity of the sex crime charge if some details are not clear from the accuser’s side of the story.
Should I Fight a Sex Crime Charge?
A sex crime charge puts a permanent stain on your record if you are convicted of it, no matter how serious. A sex criminal will always have a stigma attached to them, which can make interacting with others much harder and a lot more awkward. It can even mean that future charges become harder to fight since you have a history of a sex crime.
More importantly, it can make you unemployable to a huge list of companies, or at least positions within those companies. This can make it significantly harder to get certain jobs for a long time, even if the charge was later proven to be false. Fighting it is often the only way to resolve this, or at least lessen it.
If you need a good attorney to work with or want to understand more about the laws around sex crime and how it can be handled, then take a look at this link. Understanding what “sex crime” means and how it can be labeled will go a long way towards fighting your criminal charge with your lawyer.