West Palm Beach Lewd or Lascivious Molestation Attorneys

Lewd and Lascivious molestation or child molestation can be charged several ways under Florida law:

• Child under the age of 12: When an adult offender is convicted of molesting a child under the age of 12, it is considered a life felony, punishable by a minimum of 25 years in prison, followed by lifetime sex offender probation and a $10,000 fine. Under Criminal Punishment Code in the state of Florida, this is a Level 9 offense, requiring a judge to sentence an offender to a minimum of 25 years in prison.
• Child over age 12, younger than 16: Second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, 15 years of sex offender probation and a $10,000 fine. A Level 7 offense, requiring a judge to sentence an offender with no prior criminal history or grounds for a downward departure to a minimum of 51 months in prison, followed by at least two years of sex offender probation.
• Minor offender on a victim younger than 12: Second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, 15 years sex offender probation and a $10,000 fine. A Level 7 offense, requiring a judge to sentence an offender with no prior criminal history or grounds for a downward departure to a minimum of 51 months in prison, followed by at least two years of sex offender probation.
• Minor offender, victim older than 12 but younger than 16: Third-degree felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison, 5 years of sex offender probation and a $5,000 fine, requiring a judge to sentence an offender with no prior criminal history or grounds for a downward departure to a minimum of 36 months in prison, followed by at least two years of sex offender probation.

These offenses are ineligible for gain time, meaning an offender must serve an entire sentence before being eligible for release.

These charges require an experienced West Palm Beach defense lawyer to quickly build an aggressive defense of a client in both the court of public opinion and a court of law.

Possible defenses include:

• False allegations: These allegations are common in child custody cases, juvenile offender cases, substance abuse cases and other types of criminal or civil cases where false allegations may be made to seek a legal advantage.
• Romeo and Juliet Exemption: This exemption is available to some offenders where consensual sexual contact involved a minor ages 14-17, where the minor was no more than 4 years younger than the defendant. Such defendants may be successful in eliminating sex-offender designations and registry requirements.
• Mitigating circumstances: In some cases charges may be mitigated when a child is the aggressor or prevoker of an incident, where the defendant requires treatment for a mental disorder, or where a defendant is sentenced as a youthful offender.
• Lack of intent: Lack of lewd intent may be a defense. Lewd and lascivious conduct must be definable as wicked, lustful, unchaste, licentious or sensual in intent on the part of the person doing an act.
• Downward departure: Because of the mandatory minimum sentences in many of these cases, successfully arguing for a downward departure can significantly benefit a defendant. This may include a plea bargain, successfully arguing a defendant was a minor accomplice, deficient capacity to understand the criminal nature of the conduct, need for payment or restitution outweighs the need for prison time, defendant acted under extreme duress. cooperation of defendant, remorse of defendant, or designation as a non-violent offender.