SEX CRIMES ATTORNEY
IN ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

Sex crimes follow you forever. Even in cases where charges are dropped or defendants acquitted, the social stigma of being accused of a sex-related crime remains. Those convicted will be required to register as a sex offender for years or for life. Convictions will affect where they can live, prohibit them from many employment opportunities, and may even affect child custody and other personal relationships.

If you have been accused of or charged with a sex crime in Missouri, regardless of guilt or innocence, you deserve the best criminal defense possible. The potential consequences are too dire to leave your future to anything less.

At The Law Office of Gregory N. Smith, I focus solely on providing criminal defense to clients in St. Louis, Missouri, and in St. Charles, St. Louis, and Jefferson counties and East St. Louis. My singular focus, legal experience, and expertise in forensic science make me uniquely valuable as your advocate as you face charges related to sex crimes.

What Constitutes a Sex Crime in Missouri?

There are seven broad categories of sex-related crimes under Missouri law:

1. Rape - Rape in the first degree is sexual intercourse with someone who is incapacitated, incapable of consent, or lacks the capacity for consent, or intercourse by use of force. Rape in the second degree is having sexual intercourse with someone without their consent.

2. Statutory Rape - Statutory rape in the first degree is having sexual intercourse with someone under the age of 14. Second-degree statutory rape is anyone 21 years of age or older having sexual intercourse with someone under 17 years of age.

3. Sodomy - Sodomy in the first degree is when someone has sexual intercourse with someone who is incapacitated, incapable of consent, or lacks the capacity for consent, or by use of force. Second-degree sodomy involves sexual intercourse with someone without their consent.

4. Child Molestation - First-degree child molestation is subjecting someone under age 14 to sexual contact and it is an aggravated offense. Second-degree is subjecting someone under the age of 12 to sexual contact or being four years older or more than someone under the age of 17 when it is an aggravated offense.

5. Sexual Misconduct Involving a Child or Student - Sexual misconduct involving a child includes exposure of the perpetrator’s genitals to a child under age 15 or coercing a child under the age of 15 to expose themselves for the sexual gratification of the perpetrator or anyone else. Sexual misconduct with a student is when the act is perpetrated by a teacher, school employee or volunteer, or any other person in a position of authority in the school.

6. Sexual Misconduct - Sexual misconduct involves exposure of genitals to cause alarm, sexual contact that causes a third person to be alarmed, sexual intercourse in a public place or where a third person would be alarmed, or soliciting sexual contact to alarm another person.

7. Sexual Abuse - Sexual abuse is subjecting someone to sexual contact while they are incapacitated, incapable of consent or lacks the capacity for consent, or by use of force, or purposefully subjecting someone to sexual contact without their consent.

How Does Missouri Define Consent?

“Consent” is positive cooperation in an act or attitude by free will. Consent cannot be obtained by the use of force. There is a lack of consent when force is used in sexual contact, or when the victim is physically helpless, mentally incapacitated, mentally defective, or too young to provide consent.

What Possible Penalties Can I Face if Convicted?

Penalties for sex-related convictions depend largely on the violence of the act, age or mental capacity of the victim, past convictions, and aggravating factors, for example, use of a weapon during rape.

Sexual misconduct is a Class A, B, or C misdemeanor. The minimum charge, sexual misconduct in the second degree, is punishable by up to 15 days in jail and a fine of up to $750. A conviction also requires registering as a sex offender for 15 years and checking in with law enforcement once a year for the duration.

All other sex crimes are felony offenses in Missouri. Imprisonment for convictions ranges from a minimum of five years to life in prison, and a sex offender registration requirement of 25 years to life.

Work with an Aggressive Criminal Defense Attorney Today

Prosecuting attorneys aggressively and relentlessly pursue the toughest convictions possible for sex crimes in Missouri. You need a criminal defense attorney who will fight as hard for you as the prosecuting attorney will fight for the alleged victim. Anything less and you are sure to lose more than your freedom.

I bring to your defense the unique perspective, using my advanced forensic science degree and background in DNA analysis. I am a fierce negotiator with the prosecuting attorney and tenacious litigator in the courtroom. Most of all, each of my clients receives my personal dedication and attention. You have too much at stake to hire a sex crimes defense attorney who will not give your case the attention it needs.