The Internet and Sex Crimes
The federal government has taken an active interest in people's activities on the Internet. As we learned from a Dateline investigation, the federal government has more than 800 employees tracking the flow of images (child pornography) and conversation (child sex solicitation) over the Internet. Every U.S. State Attorney's office has a law enforcement task force whose sole objective in these backroom sting operations is to log into chat rooms as decoys and engage in sexual banter.
They pose as teens and their goal is to determine if you are a juvenile, or an adult trying to lure a juvenile into sex talk about them or another juvenile. With the click of a key or two, exchanging sexy pictures over a Web cam and engaging in suggestive conversation, you can expose yourself to prosecution for several federal and state sex crimes.
The feds can build a very strong case that's hard to defeat in court, but the skilled and experienced defense attorneys at the law office of Patrick Artur & Associates have been able to defend many of these cases to a verdict of "not guilty".
Contact Patrick Artur & Associates if you're facing criminal charges for:
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Online child pornography, production, dissemination, or possession of child pornography
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Violation of local obscenity ordinances
- Sexual solicitation of a minor, online child sex solicitation, and sending sexually explicit materials to children
- Sex with a minor
The feds have a well-coordinated and aggressive strategy, working hand in hand with local police and Internet service providers, to crack down on Internet child solicitation and the downloading of child pornography. With over 850,000 registered child pornography images compiled at a centralized federal service, service providers can send notification any time multiple, registered images are transferred over the Internet. The federal service in turn provides details to local authorities giving them probable cause to obtain a search warrant for your house, apartment, or business. We routinely challenge these warrants.
Mandatory Minimum Sentencing
New federal statutes require mandatory minimum sentences for all child pornography crimes. If convicted, you can face serious consequences for the rest of your life, from a lengthy prison sentence to lifetime sex offender registration requirements. An "inchoate offense"- the act of preparing for or seeking to commit another crime-is also a crime. A true offense occurs when the intended crime is committed. The prosecutors will charge you with the crime you are most likely to be convicted of, since you can't be charged for both an inchoate and true offense. However, inchoate crimes can result in the same mandatory minimum sentence as the intended crime. Solicitation to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (IDSI), for example, can involve serious jail time for doctors, teachers, lawyers, business owners and other professionals.
Technology may change, but your Constitutional rights do not.
You have the right to be free of unreasonable search and seizure. Federal and state law enforcement officials sometimes violate citizens' rights when investigating a computer crimes case or entrapping citizens.
At Patrick Artur & Associates, we take every step available to avoid that sex offense conviction. Contact our Philadelphia law office immediately if you've been charged or if you believe you are being investigated by federal law enforcement or state law enforcement. Immediate action by our criminal defense attorney could make a difference in your case.
Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the criminal defense attorneys at Patrick Artur & Associates represent clients throughout the greater Philadelphia area, including West Chester, Norristown, Doylestown, and Media, as well as in Chester County, Montgomery County, Bucks County, and Delaware County.
