A man faces allegations that he sexually assaulted a mentally challenged woman. The allegations say that the man assaulted the victim in 2004. Police arrested him at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport as he tried to board a plane to Haiti.
The charged man needs a Fort Lauderdale sexual battery attorney to respond to allegations that he assaulted the disabled woman on more than one occasion and left her pregnant. The man went missing for several years, and the police finally tracked him down at the airport. The find comes after a search warrant for the man’s DNA revealed the man’s paternity of the unborn child. Police say that the man has confessed to the crime.
The state’s attorney charged two counts of sexual battery towards a person with a mental defect. As a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer can explain, to face this charge, the victim must have a mental impairment that renders them incapable of understanding and giving consent to a sexual act. Florida law 794.011 prohibits sexual battery in any circumstance where the other party can’t consent. This may be because of a mental defect or because of a temporary physical or mental incapacity.
It’s important to work with an experienced Fort Lauderdale sexual battery attorney if you’re facing this type of charge. The severity of the offense depends on the exact circumstances in the allegations. In some cases where the victim is young, sexual battery can be a capital offense. It’s also a life offense in certain cases. All sexual battery cases are felonies when they involve a victim that doesn’t have the capacity to consent.
If you’re facing a sexual offense, our sexual battery criminal defense lawyer team may be able to help. There’s often a dispute as to the true facts of a sex crime case. A witness might not tell the entire truth, or there may be doubt as to whether a victim was truly incapacitated as the state alleges. It’s important to work with an attorney in order to prepare your best possible defense and hold the state to its burden of proof.
With such significant potential consequences, it’s important to work with a skilled attorney. A conviction for a sexual offense can follow you for the rest of your life. In addition to immediate consequences such as jail time and fines, it can be difficult to find employment. An aggressive defense is critical to fully asserting your rights under Florida law and protecting your future. If you’re facing a criminal charge, contact the law offices of Kenneth Hassett to talk about the case.
