Jefferson Hills Sex Crime Lawyer

Top-Rated Sex Crime Attorney in Jefferson Hills, PA

Have law enforcement officers charged you with a sex crime in Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania? If so, you’re likely experiencing considerable anxiety, stress, and embarrassment. However, you don’t have to face the criminal justice system alone. Instead, you can get help from a compassionate, understanding attorney who will tenaciously fight for the positive outcome you deserve.

Contact SMT Legal today for a free initial case review with a knowledgeable sex crimes lawyer serving Jefferson Hills, and let’s discuss your legal options for resolving your charges.

Why Choose a Sex Crimes Defense Lawyer from SMT Legal?

Being charged with a sex crime in Jefferson Hills can put your freedom and future at risk. Don’t face police and prosecutors alone. Instead, turn to a sex crimes defense attorney from SMT Legal for help because:

• Our legal team has decades of combined experience advocating for clients facing some of the most serious, complex criminal charges.
• You can rest assured that our firm will work as hard as possible to pursue a favorable resolution in your case.
• We follow every avenue and consider every option in seeking a positive outcome that allows you to protect your reputation and future so you can move forward with your life as soon as possible.

Christopher P. Thomas

Partner Criminal Defense Attorney

Your Future. is Our Present

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Call/Text<br /> an Attorney Today 412-448-6887

Types of Sex Cases We Handle

At SMT Legal, our sex crimes defense attorneys represent clients facing prosecution for all types of sex-based offenses under Pennsylvania law, such as:

• Rape: In Pennsylvania, a person commits rape if they engage in sexual intercourse with a victim through force, threat of force, or with an unconscious, impaired, or cognitively disabled person incapable of consent.
• Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse: The crime of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse occurs when a person engages in deviate sexual intercourse, defined as any sexual act other than sexual intercourse, with a victim through force, threat of force, or with an unconscious, impaired, or cognitively disabled person incapable of consent.
• Sexual assault: A person commits sexual assault when they engage in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual intercourse with a person without that person’s consent.
• Indecent assault: A person commits indecent assault in Pennsylvania if they have indecent contact, defined as touching the sexual organs or intimate parts of a person for arousal or gratifying sexual desire, with a victim or causing the victim to have indecent contact with the offender or with seminal fluid, urine, or feces without the victim’s consent, by force or threat, with an unconscious or impaired victim, or with a minor.
• Indecent exposure: The crime of indecent exposure involves exposing one’s genitals in public or any other place with other people present when the offender knows or should know that their conduct will likely offend, alarm, or affront others.
• Possession of child pornography: In Pennsylvania, possession or distribution of media depicting a minor engaging in a sexual act or simulated sexual act commits a felony sex offense.
• Unlawful contact with a minor: The crime of unlawful contact with a minor involves intentionally contacting a minor, a law enforcement officer who has assumed the identity of a minor as part of a criminal investigation, or a person who has direct contact with minors to solicit a minor to engage in a sex crime, open lewdness, or prostitution.
• Prostitution/solicitation of prostitution: Under Pennsylvania law, a person commits a crime by engaging in sexual activity as a business or hiring a person engaged in prostitution.

Our firm handles sex crime cases both as independent criminal matters and in the context of domestic violence cases where a person accuses a spouse, partner, or household or family member of a sex offense.

Consequences of a Sex Conviction

A sex conviction can have serious consequences for a defendant’s freedom, reputation, and future. First, a conviction will result in a criminal sentence, including incarceration and fines. The length of incarceration and the amount of fines imposed for a sex conviction will depend on the grading of a sex offense. In Pennsylvania, sentences for criminal convictions include:

• First-degree felony: Up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000
• Second-degree felony: Up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000
• Third-degree felony: Up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000
• First-degree misdemeanor: Up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000
• Second-degree misdemeanor: Up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000
• Third-degree misdemeanor: Up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $2,500

Sex convictions can have other long-term consequences beyond incarceration and fines. Most sex offenses come with the requirement to register as a sex offender upon release from prison. Sex offender registration obligations require offenders to report to law enforcement periodically and promptly notify law enforcement of any changes to their personal information. Sex offenders designated as sexually violent predators may face more stringent restrictions.

A conviction for a sex offense can also have a long-lasting stigma due to one’s criminal record that may come up in background checks. This stigma can make it challenging for offenders to seek housing, employment, or educational opportunities.

Due to the significant penalties and consequences of a sex offense conviction in Jefferson Hills, you need dedicated legal advocacy to protect your reputation and future when prosecutors accuse you of a sex crime.

Potential Defenses to Sex Charges

When facing sex charges, you may have various defenses you might raise to contest the prosecution’s case against you. Common defense strategies used in sex offense cases include:

• Consent: In many sex cases, defendants assert that the alleged victim validly consented to the sexual activity.
• Lack of intent: When a sex offense includes an element of criminal intent (such as acting intentionally or knowingly), a defendant may argue that the evidence fails to prove they acted with the required intent and thus did not violate the statute.
• Mistaken identity: Defendants may challenge the reliability of a victim’s or eyewitness’s identification by highlighting issues with the victim’s or witness’s recollection or showing that the police used improperly suggestive identification procedures.
• Fabrication: A defendant may claim that an alleged victim fabricated their claims against the defendant due to motivations such as seeking a legal advantage in a divorce or child custody case or retribution against the defendant due to personal disputes.
• Unreliable forensic evidence: When a case involves forensic evidence like DNA or fingerprints to identify the defendant as the perpetrator, a defendant may challenge the reliability of the evidence by highlighting issues with the prosecution’s testing to call the scientific reliability of the results into question.
• Unlawful search or interrogation: Defendants may seek to exclude evidence from the prosecution’s case by asserting that police unlawfully obtained evidence through a search that lacked a warrant or probable cause or from a custodial interrogation of the defendant where officers violated the defendant’s rights or failed to advise them of those rights.

Protecting your rights. Restoring your future.

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Call/Text Now : 412-448-6887

Contact Our Firm Today to Discuss Your Legal Options

If you’ve been charged with a sex offense in Jefferson Hills, don’t leave the outcome of your case to chance. Get legal help to defend your rights and interests.

Contact SMT Legal today for a free, confidential consultation with an experienced criminal defense lawyer serving Jefferson Hills to learn how our firm will fight for a favorable resolution to your sex charges.