Overland Park Sex Crime Attorneys

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Fighting charges involving sex crimes can be a significant challenge—even when the allegations are baseless. Often, the cases revolve around the statements of the accuser and the accused, with slim to no physical evidence available to demonstrate what actually happened. In addition, sex crime investigators focus on collecting evidence that supports the allegations rather than evidence indicating they may be based on faulty memory, false memories, or outright fabrication. If you are facing allegations of a sexual offense, you need someone on your side to protect your rights and your freedom. You need Joseph, Hollander & Craft’s Overland Park sex crime attorneys.

How Our Overland Park Sex Crime Attorneys Help the Accused

Contact one of Joseph, Hollander & Craft’s Overland Park sex crime defense attorneys immediately upon learning that an allegation has been made against you. Early intervention by a skilled defense lawyer can make a huge difference in the outcome of your case. One of our criminal defense attorneys will thoroughly examine all of the evidence in your case, candidly advise you regarding your options, and develop the best defense strategy for your situation.

We defend our client’s constitutional rights, guard against wrongful convictions, negotiate fair plea agreements, and advocate for just sentences. Defending your rights requires assembling a knowledgeable team that will collect evidence in your favor—before it is too late. Before security footage is taped over, before messages are deleted, before trash is discarded, before witnesses’ memories fade, talk to a defense attorney who can ensure you have what you need to refute a wrongful accusation. Our team will work with you and a professional investigator to collect the exonerating evidence police might overlook.

If you act early enough, your defense attorney may be able to convince the prosecutor to consider this evidence before making a charging decision. It could determine whether the allegations ever make it to court at all.

Types of Sex Crime Charges We Defend Against

Our Overland Park sex crime defense attorneys represent clients faced with felony and misdemeanor charges, including:

• rape
• statutory rape (unlawful voluntary sexual relations)
• sex trafficking
• indecent liberties with a child
• child molestation
• criminal sodomy
• sexual assault
• sexual battery
• unlawful sexual relations
• lewd and lascivious behavior

We also regularly defend clients who have been accused of non-contact sex offenses such as indecent solicitation, electronic solicitation, and sexual exploitation of a child, as well as charges for possession, distribution, and production of child pornography.

Having successfully defended adults and juveniles against serious sex crime allegations in state and federal courts across Kansas, our Overland Park sex crime defense lawyers have the experience you need—whether you are facing federal charges in Kansas City or state charges in Johnson County or Wyandotte County.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I have to register as a sex offender?

A conviction for any of the following Kansas sex crimes requires registration as a sex offender:

• sexual battery
• sexual extortion
• breach of privacy
• rape
• indecent liberties with a child
• aggravated indecent liberties with a child
• criminal sodomy
• aggravated criminal sodomy
• indecent solicitation of a child
• aggravated indecent solicitation of a child
• sexual exploitation of a child
• aggravated sexual battery
• aggravated incest
• electronic solicitation
• unlawful sexual relations
• aggravated human trafficking (if committed in whole or in part for the purpose of the sexual gratification of the defendant or another);
• commercial sexual exploitation of a child
• promoting the sale of sexual relations
• internet trading in child pornography
• aggravated internet trading in child pornography

In addition, Kansas requires sex offender registration for comparable crimes committed outside the state, for “sexually motivated” crimes, and for the following crimes when one of the parties involved is less than 18 years of age:

• adultery
• criminal sodomy
• promoting prostitution
• patronizing a prostitute
• lewd and lascivious behavior

What is the age of consent in Kansas?

The age of consent in Kansas is 16. No individual younger than 16 can legally consent to sexual contact of any kind (including but not limited to sexual intercourse).

There are some circumstances when consensual sexual contact with someone 16 or older is still criminal, though. The Kansas crime called “unlawful sexual relations” prohibits “consensual sexual intercourse, lewd fondling or touching, or sodomy” between individuals with disparate power dynamics, such as:

• Teachers and students enrolled at the school where the teacher is employed.
• Individuals in a position of authority in a family foster home and a foster child placed in the care of such family foster home.
• Jail employees and persons confined in jail.

The law criminalizes the specified sexual activity even though the student, foster child, or confined person is 16 and otherwise capable of consenting to sexual intercourse, lewd fondling or touching, or sodomy.

In addition, child pornography laws apply to sexual images of minors (anyone under 18 years old). Accordingly, it is unlawful to possess, distribute, or produce a sexual image of a 16 or 17-year-old.

Can my child go to jail for “sexting” their girlfriend or boyfriend?

Statutes prohibiting child pornography possession, distribution, and production apply when nude or sexual images of a person younger than 18 are created, shared, or possessed. Sexual exploitation laws do not provide an exemption just because the person sending, receiving, viewing, or possessing the material is not an adult.

If your child’s girlfriend or boyfriend is less than 16 years old and the sexting communications involve invitations to engage in sex acts, your child may be prosecuted for indecent solicitation of a child.

If your child has been charged, it’s vital that you talk to our juvenile criminal defense team.

If the alleged victim doesn’t want to press charges, doesn’t that mean I won’t be charged?

There is a common misunderstanding that victims of sex crimes and other offense are the ones to press charges against the accused. In reality, the prosecutor is the one who decides whether a case will be charged and whether it will go forward. Whether the victim wants criminal proceedings against the suspect may affect what the prosecutor ultimately decides to do, but it is not the decisive factor. Prosecutors represent the government (and, more generally, the public) rather than the victim. So, despite the victim’s perspective on the matter, it is up to the prosecutor to determine whether and how to proceed with a criminal action. For this reason, you should contact our Overland Park sex crime defense attorney, regardless of whether you believe the victim wants you to be prosecuted.

Can I be convicted if there’s no physical proof we even had sexual contact?

Yes, you can be convicted of a sex crime even without physical evidence of sexual contact. It is common for sex crime prosecutions to proceed based on the word of the alleged victim. Testimony is evidence, and testimony alone can be sufficient to sustain a conviction for even the most serious crimes. It is imperative that you reach out to a sex crime defense lawyer in Overland Park, no matter how weak you believe the evidence is against you.

Will I go to prison if I am convicted of a sex crime?

The severity of the punishment for sex crimes varies greatly depending on the nature of the offense. For example, Kansas sexual battery is a class A misdemeanor. The maximum term of confinement is one year in the county jail. Sex crimes against young children, such as rape of a child under 14, can carry sentences of lifetime imprisonment.

Do You Have a Sex Crime Defense Attorney Near Me?

Joseph, Hollander & Craft’s Overland Park Office is located at 10104 W. 105^th St, right across from the Veterans’ Hospital. We also maintain offices in Lawrence, Topeka, and Wichita, as well as Kansas City, MO.