sex crimes
Texting stings – Fairfax criminal lawyer on danger of words
Texting stings are rampant. They constitute easy police work that can be done by law enforcement officers (LEO) with much of the work from the comfort of a desk or armchair while having a snack. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I watch with sadness and...
Deadlines to initiate Virginia misdemeanor cases- View of Fairfax lawyer
Deadlines for initiating Virginia misdemeanor prosecutions -- also known as the statute of limitations -- are generally one year. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that limitations are placed on prosecuting misdemeanors so that potential crime suspects may avoid spending their entire lives not...
Minors and sexual fantasies do not mix says Virginia criminal lawyer
Minors are heavily protected under Virginia law against adults seeking sexual activity with them. As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I know that adults are prohibited from knowingly and intentionally doing the following with children under fifteen years old (and even with cops posing as such...
Sex Offender Registration – Virginia Supreme Court Affirms Conviction
Sex offender registration is but one of the harsh realities for those convicted in Virginia for rape, other sexual assault, child pornography, and soliciting minors for sex. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that the conviction and sentence for such crimes is a sharp...
Consent is essential for sexual activity says Virginia criminal attorney
Consent is necessary for any sexual activity. As a Virginia criminal attorney, I know that mutually consensual private adult sexual activity generally is protected as lawful. Failing to obtain consent can be fatal. Consent is not defined by absence of resistance nor of oral protest...
Breasts must not be criminalized says Fairfax sex lawyer
Breasts are found on every human. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that it is common throughout the United States to criminalize fully baring female breasts other than for breast feeding. New Hampshire v. Lilley, 2019 WL 493721 (N.H., Feb. 8, 2019). The sky...
The Hobson’s choice of agreeing to unsavory probation conditions or risking a more severe sentence
In 2008 in Grayson County, Virginia, Circuit Court, Lara was convicted of aggravated sexual battery of a mentally incapacitated victim. He was sentenced to twenty years suspending seventeen of those years, conditioned on probation obligations including participating in psychological counseling. U.S. v. Lara, ___ F.3d....
When police entice people to commit crimes
Police do not only focus on identifying and stopping criminal activity, but also on encouraging people to commit criminal activity and then arresting them. We see the latter activity happen with undercover police who ask people to arrange drug deals, rob non-existent drug stash houses,...
Virginia sex crime defense – civil incarceration
Incarceration for those convicted of certain sex offenses does not automatically end at the expiration of the prison sentence. The law governing federal proceedings, Virginia, and other states enables the respective governments to seek continued incarceration of such convicts under so-called "civil commitment" laws.
