I've been doing this for twenty-five years, and I continue to see people being charged with sexual battery. Often it's in the most innocuous way — whether it be at a sporting event and somebody touches another person — people real drunk at restaurants or fast-food locations touching women inappropriately — the next thing you know, they're charged with a sex crime.

They're facing sex registration, embarrassment, jail time, having to go to court over and over again.  It is a shame because people often do not think before they act.  They don't realize that their conduct can cause them horrible consequences.

When you're looking at registering as a sex offender and going on Megan's website where other people can see that having to go to local law enforcement on your birthday every year, so, if you're charged with one of these sex crimes, I've often seen that the police blow things out of proportion.

The person accusing you of doing something may be taking something out of context, or maybe you did what they claim you did, but do you deserve to register as a sex offender?

Early Negotiation with Prosecutor

But, let me tell you something, this is where the battle lines are drawn in these cases.  The client is scared to death.  They don't want to register as a sex offender, so that's where I have to start working on the prosecutor right from the beginning.

This means getting character letters from your fans or your family, getting some of your community work — maybe you're a sports coach.  There are all sorts of things that we can get to show the prosecutor that your conduct in this particular circumstance was an aberration.  It's never going to happen again, and that you don't deserve to have to register as a sex offender and take a conviction for sexual battery on your record.

There are other charges that the prosecutors can insert in there rather than sexual battery.  They can do just a simple battery, PenalPenal Code Section 242. That's harmful or offensive touching, and it doesn't carry all of the stigma and problems that a sexual battery does.

In other words, if you get convicted of sexual battery, you have to register as a sex offender.  If you're convicted of a simple battery, you don't, and there are all sorts of other charges that can be inserted in rather than a sexual battery.

So, suppose you're facing one of these charges, and you don't have any criminal record, and you specifically don't have any sex-related offenses on your record. In that case, you're definitely in the ballpark to avoid that sex registration.

However, you're going to have to get an attorney who's been down this road before, is local to the court where your case is pending, knows the prosecutors, knows the judges, and knows how to handle one of these cases — knows what type of evidence and information to present to the prosecutor and judge and also knows how to negotiate.

Sometimes people deserve to register as sex offenders.  Maybe you could work something out where they register as a sex offender only for the probationary period, but if they can stay out of trouble for the probationary period, they don't have to register as a sex offender; the charge gets changed at that point, and they can move on with their life.

Contact Our Law Firm for Help

Other times the person doesn't deserve to have to register as a sex offender, and the prosecutors are just going too far, and they need to be convinced that you should be able to plea to a different charge and not have to register as a sex defender.

And finally, there are those cases where the person didn't intentionally do anything wrong, shouldn't have to register as a sex offender, shouldn't have to plea to a sex offense. That person will have to go to trial and convince twelve members of the community that they're not guilty.

If we can get that done, then we put you in a great position to move forward with your life, not having to deal with the criminal justice system and not have to deal with the arduous task of having to register as a sex offender because you were convicted of Penal Code Section 243.3 – sexual battery.

Related:

Defense of Sexual Battery Charges in San Fernando Courthouse