Under state law, there are a variety of different acts that are punishable as sex crimes. In addition to unlawful sexual behavior like having intercourse without the other party’s consent, this broad class of criminal offense can also describe actions such as inappropriately touching another or exposing oneself in public. Regardless of the exact nature of an allegation, sex crimes are taken very seriously in Macon. Many of these actions are considered severe felonies with lifelong consequences if convicted.
Even acts that are misdemeanors can still create criminal records that greatly affect your employment or housing options. Do not leave your future up to chance. Our Macon sex crimes lawyers with J. Ryan Brown Law can help you handle your case and mitigate these heavy penalties. Contact our firm to discuss your situation with a skilled Macon criminal defense attorney today.
If you have been charged with a sex offense, it is important to take action as soon as possible. Even the mere accusation that you have committed a sex crime could have a devastating impact on your personal and professional reputations. Your next steps will determine how your defense unfolds. First and foremost, if you have been taken into police custody, it is important to remain silent, invoke your Fifth Amendment right, and do not say anything to police that they may be able to use against you.
You may believe that you can clear up these accusations easily and avoid any formal charges, but anything you say to law enforcement officials could be misinterpreted and used against you to aid in your conviction. You can notify the police that you will not be saying anything without your sex crimes lawyer present. Once you have a criminal defense attorney handling your case, we will need to prepare for arraignment and start working on your defense strategy.
During the arrangement, you will have an opportunity to submit your plea. You may be able to plead guilty, not guilty, or no contest. If you plead guilty or do not contest, you could be sentenced on the spot, or a hearing could be set for sentencing at a later date. If you plead not guilty, you can expect a trial date to be set. The judge will also determine whether bail should be set. The judge will consider whether you are a flight risk, the severity of the charges against you, whether you are a threat to the community, and other factors when determining whether you should be granted and, if so, how much your bail should be set at.
Not every sex crime case involves allegations of extreme violence or taking advantage of children. Some sex crimes accusations are misdemeanors that allege less severe offenses but still come with harsh consequences.
A clear example of this is sexual battery. Under O.C.G.A. § 16-6-22.1, sexual battery involves having intentional contact with the intimate areas of another without their permission. This differs from a rape charge because sexual intercourse never takes place. However, this also means that a sexual battery charge can result from seemingly simple behavior, such as giving an unexpected kiss. Sexual battery in Macon is a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature. This means that a conviction can result in a jail sentence of up to one year, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.
Our Macon sex crimes attorneys can help people fight back against sex crime allegations. They can help determine if the police work that led to an arrest respected an individual’s rights to privacy and investigate if any evidence indicates that the sexual encounter was consensual between both parties.
Felony sex crimes are some of the most serious criminal charges you can face. The consequences of a conviction will likely be devastating and include registration as a sex offender. For this reason, your dedicated sex crimes lawyer in Macon will need to carefully review the details of your case to determine which defense strategy is most likely to return a favorable outcome. Here are some of the most common types of felony offenses we have challenged:
When most people imagine the concept of a sex crime, they often think about rape. According to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated § 16-6-1, rape involves having sexual intercourse with a female without that female’s consent.
Lack of consent is a recurring theme in almost every example of a sex crime. In fact, other felony-level sex offenses such as child molestation, incest, and bigamy center around the idea that an alleged victim did not or could not consent to sexual activity.
One of the most serious felony sex offenses you can be accused of is aggravated child molestation under OCGA 16-6-4(c). Here, if you are accused of molesting a child, causing injury, or through sodomy, you could face felony-level criminal charges. If you are accused of child molestation involving aggravated sodomy, your sex crimes lawyer will need to file a motion to set a bond hearing in superior court, which could take several weeks. You will be expected to remain in jail until you appear at your bond hearing.
Your attorney will consider the specific details of your case to determine whether your charges should be reduced to a misdemeanor-level offense. If there was no act of sodomy, you are at least 18 years old but no more than four years older than the alleged victim, or the alleged victim is at least 13 years old but less than 16 years old, you should not be convicted of felony-level aggravated child molestation.
If convicted at the felony level, you could be sentenced to life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 25 years served. You could also expect to be placed on probation for the rest of your life after you have completed your sentence and been released.
Another common felony sex crime is aggravated sexual battery. Under OCGA 16-6-22.2, you could be charged with aggravated sexual battery if you are accused of intentionally penetrating the anus or sexual organ of someone else using a foreign object without that person’s consent. The magistrate court will determine whether your bond will be set unless your case involves aggravated sodomy.
An aggravated sexual battery conviction carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 25 years. You could be sentenced to life in prison, depending on the circumstances of your case. You will also be placed on probation for the rest of your life and be ordered to register as a sex offender on the Georgia sex offender registry.
There are countless other sex crimes you could be charged with under Georgia law. Some of the other types of sex crimes we have defended our clients against include:
Apart from homicide, sex crimes carry some of the harshest criminal penalties of any offense. If you are convicted, you can expect every aspect of your life to be affected. Not only could you be facing mandatory minimum sentences, but sex offender registration and collateral consequences could make it impossible for you to return to any sense of normalcy even after you are released from prison.
Most felony-level sex crimes come with mandatory minimum prison sentences upon conviction. For example, rape, aggravated child molestation, and aggravated sexual battery convictions all require a sentence of no less than 25 years in prison with life on probation.
Your Macon sex crimes attorney with J. Ryan Brown Law works to help clients avoid this outcome. This includes working to evaluate the idea of consent in a sexual encounter or questioning an alleged victim’s recollection of events.
Many sex offenses carry the requirement that the convict register as a sex offender. Under OCGA 42-1-12(a)(10)(f), once released from state prison, within 72 hours you must register with the county sheriff where you will be living in person.
Since you will likely be on probation upon your release, failure to register as a sex offender could result in a probation violation and additional felony charges. If you are convicted of failing to report to the county sheriff, providing false information, or failing to register as a sex offender, you could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.
You will likely be required to register as a sex offender with your county sheriff’s office annually for the rest of your life. In some cases, you may qualify for removal from the sex offender registry. However, if you are deemed to be a sexually dangerous predator in accordance with OCGA 42-1-12(a), you may be required to register with the Georgia sex offender registry for the rest of your life.
Collateral consequences describe the ways your life will continue to be impacted by your conviction even after you have completed your sentence. Collateral fallout can make it impossible for you to move forward with your life. As a registered sex offender and convicted felon, your criminal background check will leave much to be desired. You will likely be passed over for job opportunities, be denied housing, have your professional license permanently revoked, and have your child custody or visitation rights taken away.
Crafting a compelling defense strategy may be one of your best and only opportunities to challenge the allegations against you. Prosecutors may be willing to work out a plea agreement and reduce the charges against you to a lesser offense, but you are unlikely to qualify for pretrial diversion per Georgia Code 15-18-80. Here are some potential defenses you may be able to use to clear your name of the charges against you:
Many sex offenses are charged as such because the alleged victim has argued that they did not give their consent to the sexual activity. By introducing proof that the alleged victim agreed to, consented to, and actively participated in the event, we may be able to get the charges against you dismissed entirely.
The district attorney must prove the elements of the offense have been met to secure a conviction. If your initial criminal charges have been filed at the felony level, we may be able to argue that the alleged offense meets the standards of a misdemeanor crime as opposed to a felony offense.
If the prosecutor does not have enough evidence to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or we determine that the evidence obtained against you was unlawfully obtained, we may be able to file a motion to get your case thrown out before your case goes before the grand jury.
Many defendants come into their consultations with ideas of how they will approach their defense strategy. However, there are several defenses that the court system will not accept. These include:
When you have been accused of committing a crime as abhorrent as a sex offense, you may have many questions about what to expect from the charges against you and what the future may hold. For that reason, we have crafted a quick FAQ below that details some of the top questions surrounding sex offenses in Macon, GA. Do not hesitate to contact our legal team if you have additional questions regarding the charges against you that were not covered on this page.
The statute of limitations will vary depending on the type of sex crime you are accused of committing. Generally, under O.C.G.A. § 17-3-1, felony sex crime charges must be brought forward within four years of the date of the offense. However, the statute of limitations could be extended if you are accused of committing rape or sexual abuse of a child under the age of 16.
In fact, according to O.C.G.A. § 17-3-2.1, if the alleged victim was under the age of 16 and the offense occurred between July 1, 1992, and July 30, 2012, the statute of limitations will expire seven years from the date the alleged victim turned 16 years old. There are multiple sex crimes that may fall under this statute of limitations, including:
If the child is under the age of 16 and the offense occurred on or after July 1, 2012, there is no statute of limitations for the following types of criminal offenses:
If you are required to register as a sex offender, you must do so with the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office within 72 hours. Certain pieces of information will be made public on the Georgia sex offender registry, such as:
If you fail to register as a sex offender, you could be charged with a felony-level offense under Georgia Code § 42-1-12. This may be punishable by up to 30 years in prison for a second conviction.
Being accused of a sex crime can have serious, life-altering repercussions. Whether your case is charged as a misdemeanor or felony, a conviction can create a criminal record that damages your reputation in the community. You may even be required to serve a mandatory prison sentence and pay hefty fines.
It is vital that you give yourself every advantage moving forward. This includes hiring a Macon sex crimes lawyer with J. Ryan Brown Law to handle your case. A powerful criminal defense attorney can work from day one to explore the facts that led to an arrest, uncover helpful evidence, challenge the legality of police work, and present arguments that aim to create reasonable doubt in the jurors’ minds. Contact our firm today to schedule a confidential consultation.
J. Ryan Brown Law, LLC
J. Ryan Brown Law, LLC
