Fort Worth Sex Crimes & Sexual Assault Lawyer

As little as possible, publicly. Do not contact the accuser, do not give a statement, and do not consent to a device search. Accusation-driven cases are often decided by what happens before an arrest: the interview, the forensic exam, the grand jury. A lawyer can engage at that stage, quietly.

Registration depends on the specific charge and the outcome, and some non-conviction outcomes can still carry it. Which resolutions require registration and which do not is central to how we defend these cases, because the registry, not the sentence, is usually the lasting penalty.

Felony sex offense charges are heard in the district courts at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center at 401 W. Belknap Street. Misdemeanor charges go to the County Criminal Courts in the same building. Your court assignment appears on your bond paperwork.

False and mistaken accusations happen, and they are defended with evidence, not indignation: the timeline, the devices, the interview methodology, the forensic record. The worst mistake is assuming the truth will surface on its own.

Some are. Felonies can be no-billed by the grand jury, charges can be rejected or reduced at intake, and suppression of illegally obtained evidence can leave the State unable to proceed. Whether any of those paths is open depends on the evidence, which is why we pull the full discovery file first.

It varies with the charge level and whether the case is headed to trial, and we are direct about numbers at the first call. The consultation is free, we offer payment plans, and we quote a flat fee so the investment is known before you commit.

Ten years for sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault of an adult, under Article 12.01 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. There is no limitation at all for sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child, or continuous sexual abuse, and none for an adult sexual assault where biological evidence was collected and tested without identifying a suspect, or where the State alleges the same offense against five or more people. So an accusation about something years old can still be charged in Tarrant County. Our sexual assault guide covers the charge itself.

A report goes to the police department where the alleged offense happened, and a detective will usually ask you for an interview. Decline it until you have a lawyer. A forensic exam and any devices go to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's crime laboratory. If a warrant issues, you are booked at the Tarrant County Corrections Center downtown, a magistrate sets bond, and the file goes to the District Attorney's sexual assault unit. A felony then goes to a grand jury before it can be indicted and set in a district court at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center. Every one of those steps is a place the defense can act, and the earliest ones matter most.

No. In Texas the case belongs to the State, not the complainant, so the Tarrant County District Attorney decides whether it goes forward. A complainant can sign an affidavit of non-prosecution, and it can carry weight, but prosecutors here regularly proceed without the complainant's cooperation, and a recantation is treated with suspicion when it looks pressured. Never contact the accuser about the case yourself; that contact becomes its own charge.

Under Texas Penal Code 21.11, sexual contact with a child under 17, or causing the child to engage in it, is indecency by contact, a second-degree felony carrying two to twenty years. Exposing yourself to a child, or causing the child to expose themselves, with intent to arouse or gratify anyone, is indecency by exposure, a third-degree felony. Both require registration. The intent element is where many of these cases are defended, and the recorded forensic interview is where they are usually built. Our indecency with a child guide covers the statute in full.