Sex Crimes And Sex Offenders

(The content below was transcribed from an interview done with Acacia Law. We think you'll find it much easier
and more enjoyable to read this way.)

Interviewer: Let's talk about something I guess, totally different. We haven't yet talked about sex crimes and sex offenders. I know it's a very touchy subject, but it's important that people know about it. I'm sure that there are times you get approached by people that have been charged with a crime in this vein. What are some of the common crimes that you see? What are their names and what are some of the consequences?

Acacia Law: Well, it's actually a good segue because actually under the state statute the sentencing code for sex crimes is completely separate and different from the normal felony sentencing range. Essentially, Arizona has probably some of the harshest laws in the country in terms of how they treat what are considered, what they call "DCAC", or Dangerous Crimes Against Children. Dangerous crimes against children encompasses a tremendous amount of material in terms of what acts a person can commit with respect to a minor that will be deemed dangerous to the child. Those are the types of cases that are not an urban myth; where I have seen people taken to trial that have been sentenced to 95 years because for each victim they must be sentenced separately.

Interviewer: Really.

Acacia Law: For each crime they must serve flat time, which means the entire time, not 85%.

Interviewer: Wow.

Acacia Law: And the number of years per charge are usually mind boggling. In fact, they oftentimes exceed the consequences of homicide in terms of the amount of time a person is exposed to. So, to answer your question about what are the most common things that I see? Well, one of the biggest attracters, one of the biggest fundamental aspects of the type of cases that I encounter have to do with the Internet, essentially what we call Computer Crimes. Okay?

Interviewer: Yes.

Acacia Law: Most sex crimes, as we have come to find out, are associated with people who, at first, were utilizing the Internet. Now they even utilize their own cell phones wherein they can take pictures and send them to one another. It's in those areas that we have experienced a lot of the major sex crimes. Some examples are as follows: One, any sort of nudity, pictures of children in any sort of inappropriate photographs, who are under the age of 16, 15, 14; all these different age brackets have different penalties.

Interviewer: Really?

Acacia Law: Under 18 as well. Yes, they are broken down. Obviously, the younger the individual the more serious the charge; the more enhanced the penalties. In fact, in this state, for any crime that's designated a dangerous crime against children, almost every single one of them by virtue of the Arizona Constitution is not bondable. They will be held without bail.

Interviewer: Sheesh.

Acacia Law: In fact, yesterday I had someone who was almost taken in but I was able to show the court the statute of limitations luckily had run on that particular case because it happened in 2002. So, my client was released. However, I have had situations where people have basically been in touch with someone over the Internet and have ended up being held in custody without bond facing extremely serious charges.

Interviewer: So even if you haven't been convicted, but only have been charged with a sex crime in Arizona you can be thrown in jail and you cannot be released. You have to wait for trial and that could be months. Is that what you're saying?

Acacia Law: It could be months, it could be over a year, it could be 18 months. I've seen them up to two, two and a half years depending on the complexity of the case; depending on the disposition of the court. Yeah. Basically what I do is I prioritize those cases because the client is in custody. There is a way to get them released, but it's very hard. Essentially what it has to do with, what we do, or what I do, is essentially, we have to create enough doubt so that a court can make a finding that there is not a high probability that the state will prevail at trial. Basically, if the court sees that the evidence against the person is shaky or weak, then they have the discretion to allow the person to post a bond.

Everyone else, they have to wait. So I try to get the discovery done, which means doing the interviews, reviewing any tapes, any forensic evidence as quickly as possible, because obviously they're sitting in prison, especially if they are innocent. It's awful. Even if they are not innocent, they may not necessarily be guilty of the things they are charged with, or they may be guilty of something that is far less serious than what, in fact, the police are alleging in their police report.