When law enforcement in West Mifflin has arrested you on suspicion of sex crimes, don’t make the mistake of facing the potential consequences. Instead, get the experienced legal advice and advocacy you need to protect your rights and interests. Contact SMT Legal today for a free initial case evaluation with a knowledgeable criminal defense attorney to discuss your options for seeking a favorable resolution to your charges.
An arrest and prosecution for a sex crime can put your reputation, freedom, and future on the line. Your choice of legal representation when facing sex charges can make a difference in the outcome of your case. Turn to the team at SMT Legal to defend your rights and interests. Our attorneys have decades of combined experience standing up for clients facing criminal prosecution in West Mifflin and Allegheny County.
When you choose us to help you pursue a favorable resolution to sex charges, you can expect us to leave no stone unturned in investigating your case, challenging the prosecution, and advocating on your behalf in court and at trial. We know what the outcome of your case means to you, so we treat it with the same importance.
At SMT Legal, an experienced sex crimes defense attorney can help you face and resolve charges such as:
Rape: A first-degree felony that involves engaging in sexual intercourse with a victim by forcible compulsion or threat of forcible compulsion, with an unconscious person, with a person with a mental disability, or with a person whom the offender has impaired by surreptitiously administering intoxicants to prevent the person’s resistance.
Statutory sexual assault: A first- or second-degree felony that involves having sexual intercourse with a person under the age of consent in Pennsylvania to whom the offender is not married. The grading of the offense depends on the age gap between the offender and the other person.
Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse: A first-degree felony that occurs when a person has deviate sexual intercourse (anal/oral sex or the penetration of the genitals or anus with a foreign object for non-medical/hygienic/law enforcement purposes) with another person by forcible compulsion or threat of forcible compulsion, with an unconscious person, with a person with a mental disability, with a person whom the offender has impaired by surreptitiously administering intoxicants to prevent the person’s resistance, or with a child under 13.
Sexual assault: A second-degree felony involving engaging in sexual intercourse with a person without their consent.
Indecent assault/aggravated indecent assault: Indecent assault involves causing a victim to have indecent contact with the offender or with seminal fluid, urine, or feces to arouse sexual desire. Aggravated indecent assault occurs when an offender penetrates another person’s genitals or anus with a part of the offender’s body for any purpose other than legitimate medical, hygienic, or law enforcement purposes.
Indecent exposure: A first- or second-degree misdemeanor offense that occurs when a person exposes their genitals in a public place or any other place with other people present when the offender knows or should know their conduct will likely offend or alarm others.
Following conviction for sex crimes, a defendant may face penalties that include prison sentences and fines. Potential sentences for sex charges depend on the grading of an offense:
First-degree felony: Up to 20 years in prison and a potential fine of up to $25,000
Second-degree felony: Up to ten years in prison and a potential fine of up to $25,000
Third-degree felony: Up to seven years in prison and a potential fine of up to $15,000
First-degree misdemeanor: Up to five years in prison and a potential fine of up to $10,000
Second-degree misdemeanor: Up to two years in prison and a potential fine of up to $5,000
Aggravating factors in some sex crime cases can result in additional penalties on top of those customarily imposed for a conviction. For example, a person who substantially impairs a victim through the use of intoxicants may face an additional ten-year sentence and a potential fine of up to $100,000. Other offenses, such as involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, can have higher maximum terms.
A conviction for a sex crime can have other long-term consequences, such as the requirement to register as a sex offender. Sex offender registration requirements obligate offenders to report their personal information to law enforcement regularly, with registration terms dependent on the nature of the offense. A sex crime conviction will also result in a criminal record that may impose a stigma, making employment, housing, or educational applications requiring background checks more challenging.
A person facing prosecution for sex crimes in West Mifflin may pursue various defenses and legal strategies to fight their charges and seek a favorable resolution to their case. Common defenses raised in sex crime cases include:
Consent: Many sex crime cases involve disputes over whether the alleged victim validly consented to the sexual activity underlying the case.
Mistaken identity/alibi: Defendants may challenge the reliability of a victim’s or eyewitness’s identification of the defendant as the perpetrator of the sex crime. Alternatively, a defendant might present alibi evidence to prove that they were elsewhere when the alleged sex offense occurred.
Unreliable forensic evidence: In cases where the prosecution relies on DNA or other forensic evidence to link the defendant to the crime, a defendant may present expert testimony and other evidence to challenge the reliability of the state’s forensic testing.
Lack of aggravating factors: A defendant may seek to avoid a conviction on a more serious offense by asserting that the prosecution has insufficient evidence to prove aggravating factors, such as the use of forcible compulsion or the administration of intoxicants.
Unlawful searches or interrogations: Defendants may seek to exclude evidence or inculpatory statements from the prosecution’s case by arguing that police conducted an unlawful search without a warrant or probable cause or interrogated the defendant after detention or arrest without first advising them of their rights.
Are you facing prosecution for sex crimes in West Mifflin? Don’t leave the outcome of your case to chance. Contact SMT Legal today for a free, confidential consultation with our sex crime defense lawyers serving West Mifflin to discuss how our firm will fight to protect your rights, reputation, and freedom from the harshest consequences of an arrest or conviction.
If you’ve been arrested and charged with a sex offense in West Mifflin, you can talk to an experienced criminal defense lawyer at our office at 114 Smithfield Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. To get here:
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