Sex Crimes Lawyer in New Jersey

Types of Sex Crime Cases Our Law Firm Handles

During our decades as prosecutors, public defenders, and now criminal defense attorneys in New Jersey, we have handled a wide range of sex crime cases. Some of the types of sex crime charges our law firm can assist you with include:

To ensure that your rights will be protected to the fullest extent allowed by law, it is important that you engage an experienced New Jersey criminal defense attorney as soon as possible after being arrested for a sex crime. Whether you are accused of an internet sex crime, actual contact or penetration, or some other violation of the NJ sex crimes laws, you will need an accomplished litigator to fight your case. To set up a free initial legal consultation and start a strong legal defense with a sex crime lawyer at Marshall Criminal Defense, contact one of our twelve locations in New Jersey.

Sex Crime Penalties in New Jersey

Depending on the sex crime you are being charged with, you could be facing extremely harsh punishment under New Jersey law.

For example, punishment for sexual assault (rape) in New Jersey depends on the nature of the crime and age of the victim. Generally, sexual assault is a second-degree crime and carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence. Aggravated sexual assault, which may involve use of a weapon or a forced sexual act during a kidnapping, is a first-degree crime and carries up to 20 years in prison.

Further down the scale, lewdness (exposing the genitals for purposes of arousal) is a disorderly person offense in most cases. Still, it may be charged as a fourth-degree crime if a person allegedly exposes themselves or “flashes” someone who is younger than 13. The actor is at least four years older than the child or flashes a person who, because of a mental disease or defect, is unable to understand the sexual nature of the actor’s conduct.

Under New Jersey law:

• A first-degree offense is punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $200,000.
• A second-degree offense is punishable by 5 to 10 years in prison a fine of up to $150,000.
• A third-degree offense is punishable by 3 to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.
• A fourth-degree offense is punishable by up to 18 months in prison a fine of up to $10,000.
• A disorderly persons offense is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000.
• A petty disorderly persons offense is punishable by a fine of up to $500.

Depending on the degree of offense charged, you could face jail time, a fine, probation, or a restraining order.

Some statutory offenses have specific punishment written into the law, which in sex crimes may include registering with the State of New Jersey as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and Parole Supervision for Life (“PSL”). Hiring the best sex crimes defense attorney you can find goes a long way in minimizing these penalties and collateral consequences.

Sex Offender Registration in New Jersey

You may be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law if you are convicted or plead guilty to a sex crime in New Jersey. Registering as a sex offender requires the convicted individual to report to local police and may include notification of their status to schools or other organizations near the registrant’s home and place of business.

In the worst cases, names on the N.J. sex offender registry are made available to the public.

Typically, registration under Megan’s Law will be required if you are convicted of:

If a defendant is required to register under Megan’s Law, the County Prosecutor’s Office will classify the registrant as either Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III based on a graded scale of the risk they pose and, therefore, who should be notified of their status.

Tier I is for low-risk offenders, requiring notification of law enforcement agencies.

Tier II is for moderate-risk offenders, requiring notification of law enforcement agencies, schools, licensed daycare centers, summer camps, and registered community organizations the offender may come into contact with.

Tier III is for high-risk offenders, requiring notification of law enforcement agencies, schools, licensed daycare centers, summer camps, registered community organizations the offender may come into contact with, and members of the public through a website.

At all three levels of notification, the information provided includes:

The Prosecutor’s Office is to consider the nature of the offense, the registrant’s criminal history, any rehabilitation or counseling since the offense, and the registrant’s support in the community when grading the registrant on a numerical scale.

If the Prosecutor’s Office improperly rates and classifies an individual, the individual can appeal the decision with the assistance of a knowledgeable N.J. defense attorney. Megan’s Law also provides for potential removal from registration after 15 years if certain criteria are met.

Sex offender registration is clearly a complex consequence that needs to be dealt with by an experienced sex crimes attorney. The staff at Marshall Criminal Defense has the skills to help in this context.

How Our Attorneys Will Help You Fight N.J. Sex Crime Charges

A sex crime is any form of unwanted, unwelcome, or coercive sexual behavior, including touching another person or exposing another person to sexual acts or depictions of sexual acts. Sex crimes may range from sexual stalking over the internet to inappropriate touching or penetration without the victim’s consent or with a victim who is unable to consent.

If you are convicted of certain sex crimes in New Jersey, in addition to facing prison time, you will be required under Megan’s Law to register with the state and could be identified to the public as a sex offender.

Despite the public condemnation linked to sex crime charges, all defendants deserve and have the Constitutional right to a robust legal defense against criminal charges and the opportunity to avail themselves of the most favorable outcome for them as allowed by law.

Marshall Criminal Defense provides protection to sex crime defendants across the State of New Jersey. The sooner we can get involved in your case, the better we can ensure the courts uphold your rights as we fight to rebut the charges against you.

Contact us now so that our N.J. defense team can:

• If you are being held, immediately work for your release at the lowest possible bail or ROR, released on your own recognizance.
• Start an independent investigation into the charges against you, including examining the prosecution evidence used to indict you and arguing for the exclusion of disputable evidence from future proceedings in your case.
• Uncover evidence of faults or misconduct in your arrest or the prosecution’s case, such as:
  • Illegal arrest
  • Illegal search and seizure
  • Mistaken identity or faulty lineup of suspects
  • False witness testimony
  • Faulty or fabricated evidence
  • Faulty forensic testing (for example, in rape kits and other DNA evidence)
• Racial, ethnic, religious, socio-economic, gender, age, or other bias (profiling)
• Examine and, in discovery, question statements by the prosecution’s witnesses, including the alleged victim.
• Seek witnesses who can testify on your behalf.

Our initial objective will be to have charges dismissed or reduced, if possible. If it is necessary to go to court, a sex crimes lawyer at Marshall Criminal Defense will do so prepared to closely question the prosecution’s case and vigorously defend you.

How Can a ‘Victim’ Claim Lack of Consent in a N.J. Sex Crime Case?

Most sex crime charges are based on intimate acts with only two people who can say what really happened. Often the question of consent is at the core of a sex crime charge.

A defendant may admit to the sex act alleged but claim that the accuser consented. Sometimes the alleged victim of a sex crime changes their story about lack of consent as the potential consequences of the charges she or he has made become more apparent.

However, New Jersey law recognizes that in certain cases a person who has engaged in a sex act was unable to legally consent.

A person unable to consent to engage in sex in New Jersey is someone:

• Younger than 13 years old
• At least 13, but not yet 16 years old if the actor is at least four years older than the alleged victim
• At least 16, but less than 18 years old and
  • The actor is related to the alleged victim by blood or affinity to the third degree (for example, adopted or related by marriage, such as a step-parent, step-child, step-brother, step-sister)
  • The actor has supervisory or disciplinary power over the victim by virtue of the actor’s legal, professional, or occupational status
  • The actor is a resource family parent, a guardian, or stands in loco parentis within the household
• With diminished mental capacity, who the defendant knew or should have known was physically helpless, mentally incapacitated, or had a mental disease or defect that rendered the victim temporarily or permanently incapable of understanding the nature of the sexual conduct, including, but not limited to being incapable of providing consent. This includes a victim who was drunk, drugged, high, unconscious, or who has a developmental disability.

Because sex crimes often come down to whose version of events is more believable, there is ample opportunity in many cases to negotiate and convince prosecutors that justice is served by a lesser charge and/or sentence. When the state’s case does not hold up, charges may be dismissed or defeated in court.

But you must have a seasoned N.J. defense attorney on your side who understands what New Jersey sex crime laws allow and who has a relationship with the prosecution that can make a deal happen.

There are many reasons why sex crime charges are dismissed or reduced before a case goes to court. Sex crime cases are often based on one person’s word against another’s. Prosecutors and juries ultimately side with defendants every day.

If you have been arrested for a sex crime anywhere in New Jersey, the sooner you get the legal team from the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall working on your case, the sooner we can challenge the evidence against you or even how you were arrested.

Contact Our New Jersey Sex Crime Defense Lawyers Today

If you have been arrested for a sex crime in New Jersey, exercise your right to remain silent and call our experienced criminal defense attorneys as soon as you can. Our team will move promptly and work diligently to keep you from facing the severe punishments available to N.J. courts in sex crimes. Contact the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall now for a free initial legal consultation.