Hampton Roads Sex Crimes Offenses

Hampton Roads sex crimes offenses are defined as crimes against another person that is sexual in nature or involves something involving sexual interests. Sexual battery is a misdemeanor and rape which is punishable by life in prison, and everything else falls along that spectrum for the most part. A capable sex crimes attorney can help you fight the accusations against you by collecting relevant evidence to present in court on your behalf.

What is a Sex Crime?

Hampton Roads sex crimes offenses are defined in the Virginia Code as unwanted contact often sexual in nature. It is an overarching set of behaviors from touching someone on the backside to rape. Any of those would fall into that category.

Sexual battery is a misdemeanor which carries up to 12 months in jail, contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Aggravated sexual battery carries up to 20 years in prison; rape and sodomy are felonies and carry up to life in prison.

Felony Sex Crimes

Probably the most common of felonious Hampton Roads sex crimes offenses would be aggravated sexual battery which is some sort of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 13; causing serious bodily or mental injury to the victim; or using a weapon to hurt the victim. There is also sodomy that is somewhat common. There are not many rape cases in the area. Those are the most high-profile cases that tend to get the most attention, and when there is a rape case, it tends to make the news.

Elements of a Sexual Offense

Hampton Roads sex crimes offenses are incredibly personal crimes and many times the accuser decides they do not want to go through with the case. It is very difficult for a victim to shake off this type of case and depending on the case, physical evidence in the form of DNA, can be used to make a case. This is not always necessary in a typical assault case. These cases tend to generate more news coverage than an assault case which would probably go unnoticed. With a sexual assault, there is a very real chance that it could end up on the news.

How the Investigation of a Sex Crime Different from Other Cases

Sex crimes often involve some humiliation or significant injury caused to the victim. These are not cases where one can say that no one was harmed. The victim in these type of cases has some significant issues to overcome as a result of the crime.

Most large police departments have a dedicated Sex Crimes Unit or a Special Victims Unit, and their detectives have training to talk to the victims. There is an intense effort to preserve evidence; any sort of physical evidence that is left over. They try to get any DNA they can by being very thorough in inspecting the crime scene. This type of inspection is not seen in generic assault cases, only with major crimes.

Understanding the Social Stigma Associated with a Sex Crime

There is a stigma about sex crimes because of their very nature. They usually entail awful fact patterns and are the kind of case that, if someone is convicted, will stay with both the victim and the perpetrator. There is a Sex Offender Registry listing those persons convicted of sex crimes and these crimes tend to be highly publicized. When someone is facing these Hampton Roads sex crimes offenses, there is the belief that if they were charged with something like this, they must have done it. Once those sex charges hit, they tend to follow a person and can be very difficult to live with, even if found not guilty.