JUVENILE SEX CRIME DEFENSE IN GALVESTON
Juvenile
sex offenses, of course, can stem from other reasons. Children can be
influenced to act out when they have been exposed to pornography or live
sex. They will mimic the sexual behavior they have seen. And, of
course, children who have been sexually abused will act out on those
behaviors--sometimes years later. In such cases, it is very common that
the child was abused at a young age by an older cousin, a babysitter, a
coach or other such person close to the child. This prior abuse does not
excuse the child's actions, but it is definitely mitigating. Without
counseling and intervention, the child is likely to re-offend. If the
child later re-offends as an adult, he could be facing a life sentence.
DIGNITY, EMPATHY AND COMPASSION
James Sullivan
can help you and your child get through this difficult ordeal with
dignity, empathy and compassion. He is sensitive to the emotional and
psychological needs of children. He has represented a number of juvenile
boys and girls who themselves had been victimized at a young age and
had not reported it to their parents or to the authorities. In fact, it
was only through his sensitive, patient and thought-provoking
conversation with the child that he was able to draw out the prior
abuse.
James Sullivan
will work hard to persuade the State to non-suit (dismiss) your child's
case, to obtain an acquittal (not guilty) at trial or as a last result
to negotiate a reasonable plea bargain. From the outset, he will work to
have your child released from the detention center and then work toward
keeping him or her at home and from having to register as a sex
offender. In fact, not one of his juvenile clients has had to register
as a sex offender. Such registration can be devastating to a child's
development and to his or her future.
James Sullivan
is an expert in the field of juvenile law and has successfully
represented juveniles charged with sex offenses and other felony and
misdemeanor offenses in Houston and throughout southeast Texas. He has a
proven track record in juvenile sex offense representation and is truly
concerned about the many juveniles who do not have competent legal
representation.
Call Attorney James Sullivan at (281) 546-6428 for a free consultation by phone.
Call Attorney James Sullivan at (281) 546-6428 for a free consultation by phone.
CASE RESULTS - JUVENILE SEX OFFENSES
The
case histories below represent a few of the many juveniles charged with
sex offenses that James Sullivan has represented. All cases were in
Harris County (Houston), except where noted. Past results are not a
guarantee of a similar result in any future case.
RECENT CASE RESULTS – JUVENILE SEX OFFENSES
| Case | Facts | Results |
|---|---|---|
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child | James Sullivan persuaded a jury in the 314th District Court of Harris County to find his 15 year old male client not guilty of molesting his niece. The client was accused of inserting his finger into the sexual organ of his 2½ year old niece and his 4 year old nephew was an alleged eyewitness. The niece did have injuries documented in a medical examination, but a thorough defense investigation uncovered severe credibility issues with the children and their mother, the outcry witness, and other reasonable explanations for the injuries were not investigated by law enforcement. | Not Guilty |
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child | 15 year old boy was accused of having consensual sex with a 12 year old girl in her bedroom while two teenage friends allegedly listened in the adjoining room. | Dismissed on day of trial |
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in Montgomery County | 16 year old boy with autism was accused of raping his 14 year old male cousin during a sleepover. Law enforcement failed to interview the accused's parents, failed to visit the alleged crime scene and failed to investigate the complainant's father, a registered sex offender with a lengthy history of abusing children, as a possible perpetrator. Before Sullivan could set the case on the trial docket, the State did the right thing and dismissed the case. | Dismissed |
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child | 13 year old boy accused of touching his younger step-brothers. Sullivan persuaded the prosecutor to dismiss the case upon completion of juvenile sex offender counseling. | Dismissed |
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in Montgomery County | 12 year old boy was accused of fondling a 2 year old girl at his home. | Dismissed |
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in Brazoria County | 13 year old boy was accused of fondling his 6 year old stepsister. When the boy was 7, he was sexually abused by an older brother but never received any counseling. Unfortunately, six years later, he impulsively acted out on the behaviors he learned at a young age. | Reduced to enticing a child |
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in Fort Bend County | 16 year old boy was accused of fondling with digital penetration his 14 year old sister against her will when he was 14 and she was 12 years old. | Reduced to misdemeanor assault |
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in Montgomery County | 13 year old boy accused of having sex with and impregnating his 11 year old sister. Sullivan persuaded the prosecutor to reduce the case if client completed juvenile sex offender counseling. | Reduced to public lewdness |
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child | 16 year old boy was accused of sexually abusing his 6 year old half-sister. | Reduced to misdemeanor assault on day of trial |
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in Liberty County | 16 year old special needs boy was caught in the act of fondling a 5 year old boy in the neighborhood. During a lengthy interview by Sullivan with the child at the detention center, the boy divulged that he had been molested at age six by a 14 year old cousin. Sullivan persuaded the State and the court to allow his client to live with an older sister in Harris county. | Probation |
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in Orange County | 15 year old boy was accused of performing oral sex on a 12 year old boy. Sullivan persuaded the state to reduce the case to indecency with a child. | Probation |
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in Jackson County | 15 year old boy was accused of sexually abusing a younger brother over a one year period of time. Like so many juvenile sex offenders, the accused was exposed to explicit sex videos online via unsupervised Internet access at a young age and began acting out with a sibling. The probation department originally recommended placement at TJJD, however Sullivan persuaded the prosecutor to place him with his grandparents following a 9 to 12 months of sex offender counseling at a private placement at Pegasus School in Lockhart) | Probation |
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in Montgomery County | 12 year old boy was caught in the act of fondling a 5 year old boy in the neighborhood. Sullivan initially persuaded the court to allow his client to stay at home with his parents and younger siblings, however his client later admitted to probation to fondling a younger half-brother in his home. Sullivan then persuaded the court to place his client with his grandmother in Chicago and to receive out-patient counseling even though the probation department sought placement at a residential treatment center. | Probation |
| Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child | 12 year old boy was caught in the act of sexually abusing his 6 year old cousin. During a series of interviews with Sullivan, the boy divulged that he had been raped by an 18 year old acquaintance that had lived in the neighborhood. Sullivan persuaded the prosecutor to allow his client to receive probation and to live at home with his father. | Probation |
| Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child in Montgomery County | CASE DISMISSED AFTER FIRST COURT SETTING (11 year old boy was accused of sexual assault against his older sister over a lengthy period of time. Investigation by Sullivan and the children's parents determined that the boy was actually the victim. The sister herself was a victim at a young age and was acting out with her younger brother) | CCL 1 |
| Indecency with a Child by Contact in Montgomery County | 13 year old boy accused of touching his 5 year old niece in his bedroom. Thorough investigation by Sullivan within days of being hired was enough to persuade the prosecutor to do the right thing without client even having to go through juvenile processing, an exceptionally rare result. | Dismissed prior to first court setting |
| Indecency with a Child by Contact in Montgomery County | 16 year old boy accused of touching a female student at his high school. | Dismissed |
| Indecency with a Child in Montgomery County | 15 year old boy was accused of holding a 15 year old girl down on the floor during class and fondling her through her clothing against her will. | Dismissed |
| Indecency with a Child in Montgomery County | 11 year old boy was accused of fondling two other students against their will while on the school bus. | Dismissed |
| Indecency with a Child | 13 year old boy was accused of fondling a 12 year old girl against her will at school. | Dismissed |
| Indecency with a Child | 14 year old boy was accused along with two other boys of fondling a 13 year old girl at school against her will. Case was reduced on day of trial. | Reduced to misdemeanor indecent exposure |
| Indecency with a Child | 15 year old boy was accused of fondling a 6 year old girl who was visiting him at home. Case was reduced on day of trial. | Reduced to misdemeanor assault |
| Indecency with a Child | 14 year old boy was accused of fondling a 7 year old boy outside in their apartment complex. Case was reduced on day of trial. | Reduced to misdemeanor public lewdness |
| Indecency with a Child in Galveston County | 13 year old boy allegedly touched a girl inappropriately while riding home on the school bus. Sullivan persuaded the prosecutor to grant a deferred prosecution with counseling. | Dismissed |
| Indecency with a Child | 14 year old boy accused of touching a 10 year old girl. | Dismissed |
| Indecency with a Child | 15 year old boy accused of touching a 12 year old girl. | Reduced to misdemeanor assault |
| Motion to De-Register as a Sex Offender | GRANTED (A registered juvenile sex offender was allowed to de-register. Now 17, the client wanted to de-register before he applied to attend college) | 314th |
| Motion to Revoke Probation (Indecency with a Child) in Fort Bend County | Motion to revoke dismissed and juvenile client was re-instated on probation. | Dismissed |
| Possession of Child Pornography | 15 year old boy accused of downloading child pornography images and videos from the internet to his school-issued tablet. James Sullivan persuaded the judge to grant deferred prosecution after he first arranged for his client to take and complete juvenile sex offender counseling. | Dismissed after deferred prosecution |
| Possession of Child Pornography | Case was first filed in Criminal District Court as an adult case, later dismissed and re-filed in Juvenile Court one week before client's 18th birthday, an exceptionally rare event. Government knew about child pornography when Client was 16 but did not execute search warrant until one week after his 17th birthday. Client does not have to register as a sex offender) | 5 years determinate probation |
| Promotion of Child Pornography in Montgomery County | 15 year old boy accused of forwarding a pic of himself engaging in a lewd sex act with another child. Sullivan persuaded the prosecutor not to file charges if client completed a counseling program. | Case closed without charges filed |
| Sexual Assault | 16 year old boy accused of forcibly raping a 17 year old girl at her home. | Dismissed on day of trial |
| Sexual Assault of a Child in Fort Bend County | 16 year old boy allegedly forced his girlfriend to have sex with him against her will. Sullivan persuaded prosecutor to not file case and for client to participate in first offenders program. | Case closed without charges filed |
| Sexual Assault in Brazoria County | 16 year old boy was accused of sexual assault against an 18 year old girl during a teen drinking party. | Case closed without charges filed |
POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF JUVENILE SEX OFFENSES:
DISCRETIONARY TRANSFER TO CRIMINAL COURT
An
Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child offense is a first degree felony.
If the juvenile is 14 years of age or older at the time of the alleged
offense, the State can seek to have the juvenile transferred to criminal
court and stand trial as an adult. In adult court, the range of
punishment is from five years to life in prison.
Indecency
with a Child can be either a second or third degree felony. If the
juvenile is 15 years of age or older at the time of the alleged offense,
the State can seek to have the juvenile transferred to criminal court
and stand trial as an adult. In adult court, the range of punishment is
from 2 years to 10 or 20 years in prison.
DETERMINATE SENTENCE
Instead
of a transfer to criminal court, the State can also seek a Determinate
Sentence for a juvenile aged 10 years or older for a juvenile felony sex
offense. If this were to happen, a juvenile could never seal his
juvenile record. He could be placed on probation for up to 10 years with
automatic transfer to adult probation at age 18. He could also be sent
to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department
(former known as Texas Youth Commission) for up to 40 years for a first
degree felony, up to 20 years for a second degree felony and up to 10
years for a third degree felony. If sent to TJJD and to be eligible for
parole, he first has to stay a minimum of 3 calendar years for a first
degree felony, 2 calendar years for a second degree felony and 1
calendar year for a third degree felony. If the juvenile does not parole
out by age 19, then he is automatically transferred to adult prison,
although depending on his behavior he could be transferred as early as
age 16.
INDETERMINATE SENTENCE
Instead
of the severe consequences of a transfer to adult court or determinate
sentence, the State can proceed with an Indeterminate Sentence. In such a
case, the juvenile could petition the court to seal his record at age
19 as long as he is not required to register as a sex offender. Also,
the juvenile could receive probation until age 18. As a condition of
probation, he could be placed outside his home for sex offender
counseling and treatment. He could also be sent to TJJD where he could
be held until age 19. In most of his negotiated cases, Jim Sullivan has
been able to reach an agreement with the State for his client to receive
Indeterminate Sentence probation at home for two years, the minimum
statutory required length of probation for a felony sex offense.
SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION
The
Judge can also order the juvenile to register as a sex offender until
age 28. The defense attorney may be able to persuade the State to agree
to defer registration, i.e. the Judge will make the decision regarding
sex offender registration after the juvenile completes his or her sex
offender counseling. Jim Sullivan has been successful in his cases to
either defer the registration decision or to not require the juvenile to
register at all.
DE-REGISTRATION – EXCUSING SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION
James Sullivan
has also been successful in persuading juvenile courts to allow
juveniles to be excused from further sex offender registration that
would otherwise be required by Chapter 62 of the Texas Code of Criminal
Procedure. A juvenile ordered to register as a sex offender only has two
chances to request de-registration as a sex offender. Therefore, it is
important to retain an attorney experienced in the process. Ideally, it
is better to request de-registration prior to the juvenile's 18th
birthday when he would otherwise have to begin registering as an adult
until age 28. However, the juvenile can still request de-registration
even after having reached age 18 or older. If you or your child were
ordered to register as a sex offender by a juvenile court and want to be
excused from further registration or if your child is charged with a
sex offense, then call James Sullivan at 281-546-6428. He can help you and he wants to hear from you.
