Salt Lake City Sex Crime Attorneys
Providing Criminal Defense Services to Clients Facing Serious Charges
Being accused of committing a sex crime can be worrisome, especially if you’ve researched what happens to those who have been convicted of sex crime charges and found that it ranges from jail time to life in prison. Additionally, after you get out of prison, you could be placed on a sex offender registry and consequently have trouble finding work or applying for social services.
Given these facts, how are you supposed to live a normal life with a sex crime on your record? Though you’re understandably upset, a Salt Lake City sex crimes attorney from Conyers & Nix can assist you with your sex crime charges.
As experienced Utah sex crimes lawyers, we can work with you to fight your charges and hopefully get you back on track with your life. Because sex crime accusations are serious, our team will travel anywhere in Utah to defend you. Contact our law firm today to speak with an experienced criminal defense attorney about your legal options.
What Types of Sex Crimes Cases Do We Handle for Clients in Utah?
We have years of experience defending Utah residents from serious criminal charges of all kinds, including sex crimes. The following offenses are some examples of Utah sex crime cases we’ve handled for clients:
- Rape
- Sexual battery
- Object rape
- Aggravated sexual assault
- Aggravated sexual abuse
- Voyeurism
- Lewdness
- Exploitation of a minor
- Forcible sodomy
- Child pornography
- Revenge porn
If you are facing charges for these or other illegal sex crimes, contact our law firm for immediate legal assistance. We understand the severity of the allegations against you and will work hard to prevent a sex crime conviction. Call today for a consultation.
What Are Some Common Utah Sex Crimes and Their Penalties?
If you’ve been accused of committing any sexually motivated crime in Utah, you can count on us to represent you, as we’ve successfully defended clients from serious charges over the years. Whether you’re charged with committing a grievous sexual offense like rape or forcible sodomy, or you’re accused of indecent exposure and other sexual allegations, we’re here to help. Consider some common sexually motivated offenses and the consequences you’ll endure if convicted.
Sexual Battery
Sexual battery involves intentionally touching someone’s private areas in a way that would cause that person to become alarmed. It is an all-encompassing category that includes any unwanted and unwelcome touch, and it’s a class A misdemeanor in Utah.
If convicted, you could go to jail and pay up to $2,500 in fines. When you approach Conyers & Nix with details about your sexual battery allegations, we’ll come up with a strategy to combat your charges.
Rape
Rape is a grievous sexual offense that occurs when one person forces sexual intercourse on another person without permission. Even if you’re married to the person, you can still be charged with rape.
In Utah, rape is a first-degree felony and you can go to prison for five years to life if convicted. You will also be labeled a sex offender who must sign up for the sex offender registry.
If you hope to avoid these and other penalties, contact Conyers & Nix. Though we can’t promise your case will turn out exactly how you’d like, our goal is to achieve an optimal outcome, so we will assert ourselves inside and outside the courtroom for you.
Lewdness
In Utah, lewdness involves doing sexual acts in public. It’s punishable with up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
If there’s a child involved in your alleged crime, your lewdness charge could go from a class B misdemeanor to a class A misdemeanor. It could even become a third-degree felony if you were previously convicted of lewdness or other sex crimes.
Forcible Sexual Abuse
Forcible sexual abuse occurs when one person touches another person’s private areas with the intent to arouse or gratify their sexual desires or cause substantial bodily or emotional pain. The person must be 14 years of age or older when it happens.
This type of unlawful sexual activity is always a felony, and you could go to jail for five years to life if convicted. If you reach out to our law firm about your forcible sexual abuse case, we’ll collect the facts from you and fight your charges in court instead of pleading out.
Sodomy
Forcible sodomy occurs when one person forces sodomy upon another person. It is a first-degree felony in Utah, and you could go to prison for five years to life if convicted.
If you’re charged with forcible sodomy, you can call Conyers & Nix with information about your case, and we’ll figure out a criminal defense strategy to try and achieve an ideal outcome.
Revenge Porn
You could face charges of revenge porn if there is evidence that you distributed intimate photos of another person online without that person’s consent, with the intention to cause emotional distress or harm.
This Utah sex crime could be a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the situation. Either way, we can represent you to prove that you’re not guilty of this or other sex crimes.
Voyeurism
Voyeurism involves looking at a part of someone’s body when they thought they had privacy. So, you could be charged with voyeurism if you look through someone’s bedroom window while they are getting dressed. Similarly, if you allegedly recorded a person who thought they had privacy, you could be charged with voyeurism.
This offense could be classified as a misdemeanor in some cases. However, it could be upgraded to a felony charge if the person being watched or recorded was under 14 years of age.
Do Your Sex Crime Allegations Involve Minors?
Sex crimes against victims under the age of 18 are punished more harshly than many other sex crimes where adults are the victims. In most cases, minors cannot legally consent to acts of a sexual nature with adults, so there’s no way for an adult to claim they had consensual sex with someone under 18 in this state. Whether you’re accused of aggravated sexual assault, child pornography, object rape, or other sex crimes against minors, it’s critical that you hire a Utah criminal defense attorney to fight these serious charges.
Sexual Abuse of a Minor
According to Utah law, a child is under 14 years of age and an adult is 18 or older. Sexual abuse of a child can range from inappropriately touching a child to taking indecent liberties with them., and it’s a second-degree felony.
A convicted person could serve one to 15 years in prison and owe fines of up to $10,000. When you contact Conyers & Nix, we’ll learn about your case and give you guidance on how to proceed to avoid a long prison sentence.
Sexual Conduct of a Minor
Sexual conduct of a minor in Utah involves having sexual relations with someone who is 16 or 17 years old. It not only includes sex but also touching in a sexual manner. Depending on the circumstances, it can be a misdemeanor or a felony.
Solicitation of a minor, or attempting to solicit a minor, are also serious criminal offenses in Utah. Cases involving these types of sex crimes can result in lengthy prison sentences for those who are proven guilty, so contact us for legal help.
How Can Salt Lake City Sex Crime Lawyers Help You?
If you’ve been accused of one or more sex crimes in Utah, it’s time to hire a Salt Lake City sex crimes defense attorney. You will need a legal professional on your side to help fight the charges, and Conyers & Nix can do this for you. We have a proven track record of helping clients in Salt Lake County get their charges reduced or dismissed, so if you’ve been accused of sexual exploitation, aggravated sexual abuse, sexual assault, and other serious crimes, contact us for help today.
If you were previously convicted of a sex crime in this state, we may be able to assist you, as well. Depending on the circumstances, you may be eligible for expungement, making your record invisible to the general public. An expungement means you will not have to worry that a prospective employer, landlord, or peers could view your conviction and judge you for it, as only government agencies could see it.
Granted, expungement of sex crimes is available only in highly specific situations. If you want to know if you might qualify for this or need a defense attorney to represent you in court, call 385-469-1097 for a consultation.