Meeting a Minor Through the Interent: Serious Criminal Consequences

If you are accused of any Internet sex crimes, you could end up facing serious criminal consequences. It is vital that you do everything you can to fight the charges or your future could be severely damaged.

Criminal Consequences and Meeting Minors Online

The Internet is Pandora's box opened wide. Because you cannot see the person on the other side of the screen, it has opened up a new avenue for criminals who perpetrate crimes against minors. Sex crimes are treated seriously by the criminal justice system. If you are prosecuted for a sex crime, you could face a lifetime of humiliation and difficulties.

These types of cases are investigated and tried by both federal and state courts. If you meet a minor through the Internet and you have sexual intentions, you could face long term incarceration, not to mention other punishments.

Solicitation of a child online is a serious crime, even if a meeting never occurs. Actual contact carries even heavier penalties. Depending on the jurisdiction in which you live or where charges are brought, defenses to solicitation of a minor online may include: being married to the minor and the actor's age being near the minor (in some jurisdictions as many as three years provides a defense). Other defenses may be available based on the facts of your case. A defense such as closeness in age is not necessarily a full defense. It may help the court decide to be lenient though.

Some states have language in their criminal statutes which prevents certain defenses from being brought in such cases. For example, California's child solicitation statute does not allow the following defenses:

• The defense that the meeting did not occur;
• The defense that the actor did not intend for the meeting to occur; or
• The defense that the actor was engaged in a fantasy at the time of commission of the offense.

Getting Legal Help

An attorney in your state who handles criminal law cases can assist you in dealing with criminal charges related to Internet interactions. You do not have to have known the victims age to be guilty of a crime. Obtaining legal counsel is your first best step in fighting for your freedom and rights and protecting your future. You can trust an attorney to help you get through these embarrassing and devastating charges.