Virginia Child Enticement Laws

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Virginia state law addresses using any type of communication or digital media to institute contact with a minor child for illegal sexual purpose.  In order to be convicted of child enticement in Virgina, and individual must be shown to have committed certain acts.  Specifically,  a person over the age of 18, will be guilty of child enticement if the following elements are met:

• Use a communications system, including but not limited to computers or any other electronic means
• For the purposes of soliciting, enticing, persuading, inviting, with lascivious intent,
• Any person he knows or has reason to believe is a child less than 15 years of age
• To knowingly and intentionally expose his sexual or genital parts to
• Any child to whom he is not legally married
• Or propose that any such child expose his sexual or genital parts to such person;
• Propose that any such child feel or fondle the sexual or genital parts of such person or
• Propose to such child the performance of an act of sexual intercourse

Penalties for Child Enticement Virginia

 A person that is convicted of child enticement will be guilty of a felony and face the following penalties:

• If the minor child is between 7 and 15, a prison maximum prison sentence of 30 years with a mandatory minimum of five years
• If the minor child is older than 15 but younger than 18 a prison maximum sentence of twenty years, with a mandatory minimum of one. 

Defense of Child Enticement in Virginia

A defendant that has been charged with enticing a child will have available a number of defenses.  These defenses if asserted correctly could absolve the defendant of any criminal liability:

• Duress or compulsion where a person engages in criminal conduct due to threat of imminent death, or seriously bodily injury, or force.
• Ignorance to or mistake as a mater of fact that negates the element of intent to commit the crime
• Involuntary intoxication that results in lack of capacity to appreciate right from wrong
• Mental disease, defect, or insanity

Attempted Child Enticement in Virginia

A person will be found guilty of attempt to entice of child if acting with the intent to commit the crime of child enticement, he or she take substantial acts towards completing the crime of child enticement.   Substantial acts are considered those that are strongly correlated to the person’s state of mind to complete the crime.  The penalty for attempt will not be greater than the penalty for the actual crime itself.

When to Talk to a Lawyer

Whenever you are charged with a crime you should immediately seek the assistance of a lawyer.  Only an attorney licensed in the state of your residence can give you advice regarding your rights and defenses and assist you with preparing your case for criminal trial.