Protect Your Rights with Sex Crimes Defense Lawyers in Richmond
There is no bigger kick in the teeth than being accused of a sex crime. It knocks the wind out of you as you fear for your life and livelihood. Sexual abuse convictions carry significant prison time and restrict your freedom for the rest of your life. Avoid these perils with the help of a Richmond sexual abuse defense lawyer.
The justice system is supposed to protect the innocent. It is supposed to restrict what resources the government can throw at you. But when you are facing sexual abuse charges, it can feel like those safeguards don’t exist.
How can you protect your right to be treated fairly by a justice system stacked against you? The answer is simple. Hire the Richmond sex crimes defense lawyer services of Cody Villalon. He is an experienced defense attorney who has been successfully protecting the rights of the accused in sex crimes cases for over 12 years.
Why Call Cody Villalon?
Cody Villalon is the type of attorney you want when facing sexual abuse charges in Richmond. He is compassionate, well-prepared, and always makes time for the needs of his clients. Cody believes that everyone is innocent until proven guilty and that they deserve all of the rights guaranteed to them by the U.S. Constitution. He always fights aggressively to ensure the rights of his clients are protected throughout the legal process and uses his extensive legal knowledge to keep his clients out of prison.
What a Sex Crime Defense Attorney Can Do for You
Virginia Sex Crimes Defense Attorneys Try to Keep You out of Court
Just because you have been charged doesn’t mean you will always end up in a trial. Our legal team can potentially prevent you from facing a trial by:
- Challenging the constitutionality of evidence
- Preventing witnesses from being called
- Proving that your rights were violated during the legal process
- Arguing to have charges dismissed in a pretrial motion
- Convincing the prosecutor to drop charges
- Negotiating for lesser charges or a lesser sentence.
If there is a way to prevent you from facing a trial while also limiting the scope of any punishment you face, our dedicated law firm will make it happen. A trial is inherently unpredictable, and we don’t want to leave your fate in the hands of twelve random citizens if there is a better solution. It is better to be part of the decision-making process.
However, in many cases going to trial is still the best option. Cody Villalon has a reputation for fighting aggressively in trials and never passing off clients to other attorneys. He has plenty of experience winning jury trials and won’t back down from a fight.
Virginia Sex Crime Laws are Complicated
Easy Explanations from a Virginia Sex Crimes Defense Lawyer
Sexual assault is disturbingly common in the state of Virginia. Approximately 1 in 4 women in the state have suffered sexual assault, with the majority of those first being abused when they were children. This prevalence of sexual abuse is one of the many reasons that authorities charge and prosecute sexual abuse so aggressively. In fact, with Richmond having ten times the rate of registered sex offenders as the entire state, the role of a Richmond assault lawyer becomes even more crucial in such situations.
Virginia law provides authorities with many tools to deal with sexual abuse. There are 20 different crimes associated with some form of sexual abuse. Sexual abuse charges can include:
- Attempted rape
- Child molestation or sexual abuse
- Incest
- Internet sex crimes
- Sexual violence against an intimate partner
- Non-consensual touching
- Rape
The majority of these crimes are classified as a felony, with sentences that range from one to 20 years in prison. The most severe charges (forcible sodomy and forcible rape) can result in life sentences. There are even sex crimes that have mandatory life sentences. If facing the least severe charges, which are misdemeanors that can result in up to one year in jail or prison, one might consider consulting a Richmond misdemeanor charge lawyer.
In addition to any prison time or fines that a judge assigns, many sexual charges include mandatory inclusion on the Virginia sex offender registry. Your placement on this registry will limit where you can live and work for the rest of your life. Most employers, lenders, and landlords will also refuse to provide opportunities to people on this list, and the details of this list are publicly available.
Keeping you from being placed on the Virginia sex offender registry is one of the main goals of sexual abuse defense. All too often, people are placed on this list for minor one-time actions that do not represent continuing behavior, even if they were sentenced with only a fine or a minor amount of jail time. We do our best to protect your future by fighting against your inclusion on the registry.
Sex Crimes Defense FAQs
All Your Questions Answered by Virginia Sex Crimes Defense Attorneys
When you face sexual abuse charges in Richmond, it can feel like everybody is asking you questions, but nobody is answering your questions. During this chaotic time of your life, Cody Villalon is always ready to answer all of your questions. If you are arrested for sexual abuse, the first thing you should do is insist on speaking with an attorney. Don’t answer any questions from authorities or make any statements without having a lawyer present. All too often, clients will say something that harms their case before a lawyer is present.
Generally speaking, prosecutors offer plea deals for two reasons: they want to avoid the time and cost of a trial, or they aren’t confident they can convince a jury of their top charge. Richmond sexual abuse defense attorneys will usually use that plea deal offer to reduce the most serious charges and try to prevent clients from getting on the sex offender registry. If the prosecutors agree to the deal, or at least the important parts, your attorney will recommend it.
However, just because your attorney recommended a deal doesn’t mean you have to accept it. In particular, if you are innocent of the charges, you may justifiably want a jury trial to prove your innocence. Our law firm will vigorously defend you in court, even if you refuse a plea deal we recommend.
Just because you are under age 18, that doesn’t prevent you from being charged with a crime. You may be tried in family court if you are young enough, though that isn’t certain. Children can be charged as adults if they are close enough to 18 years old. The more pertinent question is whether you can be charged with child sexual abuse for having sexual relations with another child. If you are both close in age, you probably can’t be unless you have also committed other crimes. For example, your age doesn’t matter if you take pornographic pictures of a child and share them online. The harshest sentences are reserved for forcible rape, forcible sodomy, and charges involving children. The younger the child, usually the harsher the sentence. Judges have a lot of leeway in assigning sentences to people charged with sexual abuse, so it is difficult to estimate exactly what sentence any person might be facing for a specific charge.
Unless there are extenuating circumstances, authorities can’t search your belongings without a warrant or your permission. If a police officer searches your phone without first getting a warrant, they are violating your rights, and any evidence they find can’t be used in court. You mustn’t permit any authorities to search your phone, either explicitly or implicitly. Never give them permission.
Sexual abuse of a spouse or significant other is treated differently than the sexual abuse of a stranger or acquaintance. However, that does not mean it ceases to be a crime. If you abused them in a non-sexual way, we should be able to get the charges reduced to non-sexual charges, but you will probably still be facing potential prison time.
Criminal defense attorneys have varying fee structures. But as a rule, they generally charge by the hour. This means that you will usually pay significantly more for a felony than a misdemeanor, because it takes more time to defend. And the more charges you are facing, the more you should expect to pay for your defense. During your free consultation, we will give you an estimate of how much we expect your case to cost, based on the details of your case.
Everything is harder when you are confused and don’t know what is going on. We are a trusted law firm that cares about our clients. We show that care by answering all of your questions quickly and clearly.
Call Cody Villalon When You Need Sex Crime Defense in Richmond
Trust an Experienced Virginia Sex Crime Defense Attorney with a Record of Success
Sexual abuse is a horrifying act if actaully comitted. It is also a horrifying crime to be charged with, especially if you are innocent. At the law firm of Cody Villalon, we believe that all people are innocent until proven guilty, whether they’re facing accusations of sexual abuse or in need of a Richmond gun charge lawyer. Cody Villalon is that attorney. With a long record of success in defending sexual abuse cases in Richmond, he’ll fight hard for you.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY CODY VILLALON
Cody Villalon is a criminal defense attorney in Richmond, VA representing clients accused of violent offenses and DUIs, and he specializes in serious criminal charges. He possesses more than 10 years of legal experience, has defended more than 1,000 cases, and has spent more than 5,000 hours in court. He is highly professional and well-respected by prosecutors and judges. [ Attorney Bio ]
