If You are Charged with a Sex Crime ...
You already know that you need a good criminal defense lawyer. The question is, how do you find one? The consequences of making the wrong decision could be disastrous for you. This is not a time to shop around until you find the cheapest attorney willing to take your case. Nor is it wise to choose someone who tells you only what they think you want to hear -- if it sounds too good, too easy -- it usually is. In these cases, perhaps more than any other, you need an defense lawyer you can trust. The criminal defense attorneys at The Sprano Law Firm have years of experience successfully defending people accused of all types of sex crimes. Our sex crimes defense lawyers have the skill and trial experience to win these cases when it is at all possible to do so, and the wisdom to give you sound advice and mitigate the consequences when it is not. Call us today and we will put our skill and experience to work for you.
Types of Sex Crimes
Most of the Sex Crimes charged in Virginia fall into one following general categories:
- Forced Sex Crimes Against Adults
- Sex Crimes Against Children (Child Molestation)
- Internet Sex Crimes (including Child Pornography Charges)
Whichever type of sex crime you are dealing with, the consequences of even being accused of such an offense can be significant. When the charge results in an actual conviction for a sexual offense, the result is often a lengthy prison sentence followed by a difficult period of probation and sometimes a lifetime requirement to register as a convicted sex offender. Our sex crimes defense lawyers will do everything we can to help you avoid those consequences.
Defense Against Rape Charges
In Virginia, the crime of Rape is defined as nonconsensual sexual intercourse accomplished by force, threat, or intimidation. Similar charges are Forcible Oral Sodomy and Anal Sodomy, and Animate or Inanimate Object Sexual Penetration. Each of these felony sex crimes carries a possible sentence of between five years to life in prison. All of them are classified under Virginia law as sexually violent offenses which requiring lifetime registration as a sex offender upon conviction. Aside from the details of the act itself, the elements and defenses involved in these types of cases are very similar. The prosecuting attorney must prove some degree of penetration, lack of consent, and that the act was accomplished through the use of force, threat, intimidation, or the mental incapacity of the complaining witness. Defense lawyers usually opt for one of two strategies - either contesting identification (i.e.--"he didn't do it") or arguing that the complaining witness actually consented to the act. To be successful in contesting identification, defense attorneys must have expertise in forensic evidence collection, dna and fingerprint technology, and how to effectively attack an eyewitness identification.
The first step to a successful consent defense also often involves attacking the state's forensic evidence - this time in the form of testimony from a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner ("SANE") who will invariably opine that the complainant's injuries are not consistent with consensual sex. If this sort of testimony will be presented in your case, it is crically important for you to be represented by an experienced sex crimes defense attorney who knows how to expose this sort of testimony for the junk science that it is. If the SANE testimony can be effectively undermined, the case should reduce itself to a simple credibility contest -- "he said" vs "she said". Our criminal trial lawyers excel at convincing juries that this is not enough for the "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" that the law requires. If you have been accused of a Rape charge, call the attorneys at the Sprano Law Firm today.
Defense of Charges of Sex Crimes Against Children
Our attorneys represent clients charged with the following types of sex crimes against children:
- Abduction with Intent to Defile
- Aggravated Sexual Battery
- Indecent Liberties with a Minor
- Custodial Indecent Liberties
- Rape, Statutory Rape
- Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor
- Indecent Exposure
- Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
Child molestation and sexual exploitation charge are by far some of the most difficult cases to defend. When a child takes the witness stand and makes the most horrific of accusations, even the best criminal defense lawyers face a daunting task in asking a jury to disbelieve them. If you have been falsely accused of commiting Indecent Liberties, Sexual Battery, or some other sex crime against child, this task may seem insurmountable. The attorneys at the Sprano Law Firm know from experience that it is not. Sometimes the truth does win out in the end. There is hope. There is no hiding the fact that these are not easy cases, but they can and have been won. Give us a call today to start preparing your defense!
Many of the clients we have represented on these types of charges find themselves talking to us only after they have already talked to the police and admitted wrongdoing. Sometimes even these cases can be challenged, but other times the evidence is simply overwhelming. In that case it is just as important to have an experienced and skilled sex crimes defense attorney in your corner - someone who knows what the case is worth, who can strike the best plea bargain possible with the prosecuting attorney, and most importantly - an attorney who knows how to put together and present an effective sentencing argument in cases involving sex crimes against children. At the Sprano Law Firm, both of our attorneys were once assigned to the notorious "sex crimes docket" in juvenile court as Public Defenders, representing indigent clients charged with sex crimes against minors. We have represented the worst of the worst, and know how to come up with good arguments even in the most difficult and challenging circumstances. Altogether, our attorneys have more than twenty years of combined experience defending people accused of sex crimes in Fairfax and throughout Northern Virginia, including both misdemeanor and felony sex crime charges.
Please review this list of jury trial results for attorney Mike Sprano. Several of these were sex crime trials, including a case in which he obtained a not guilty verdict for a client accused of aggravated sexual battery even though two detectives said that he had confessed. The defendant claimed the police and the complaining witness were all lying. The jury found him Not Guilty.
Contact Us for a Free Consultation
To discuss your sex crime case with one of our trusted lawyers, call us at 703-763-0979 or send us an e-mail.
Our office is located near the Fairfax County courthouse. We are open for appointments Monday through Friday, and attorneys are available by phone and e-mail seven days a week.
Spanish language service is available.
