Salt Lake City Sex Crime Lawyer

Knowledgeable Sex Crime Attorney in Salt Lake City, UT

Charged with a sex crime? You need a skilled Salt Lake City sex crime lawyer. At Blackley & Wingad, we’ve handled countless sex crime cases and have actual jury trial experience. We don’t just represent you — we help you understand every step. Our team listens, explains your options, and fights hard in court.

Whether it’s a felony or misdemeanor, these charges can change your life permanently. You could face prison, big fines, and a requirement to be listed as a sex offender. That’s why it’s important to have a competent team of sex crimes attorneys who know how to defend your rights, work towards an optimal result, or take your case to trial.

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Why Hire a Sex Crime Lawyer?

As of 2023, one in three women in Utah claims to experience some form of either sexual or intimate partner violence in her lifetime. Studies suggest that fully 19.9% of women and 6.5% of men will experience either rape or an attempted rape in their lives. What these numbers indicate is that sex crimes are prevalent or pervasive in the Beehive State.

While it’s important to take sex crimes seriously, it’s equally important to make sure that everyone accused of committing rape and related sex crimes gets a fair chance to defend themselves. That’s why it’s so important that you hire a sex crime lawyer. Your lawyer can help you:

• Understand your charges.
• Gather evidence.
• Interview witnesses.
• Evaluate the prosecution’s case.
• Come up with a defense strategy.
• Represent you in court.

Having a skilled Salt Lake City sex crime attorney on your side can improve your chances of a positive outcome in your case.

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Types of Sex Crimes

When most people think of sex crimes, they think of rape. However, a range of other criminal conduct falls under this broad category, many of which are just as serious. Sex crimes that people can be charged with in Utah include:

Sexual Battery

Sexual battery involves the non-consensual touching of another person’s intimate body parts.

Sexual Abuse of a Child

Sexual abuse of a child is when someone engages in inappropriate sexual behavior with a minor, including unwanted sexual contact or exposure to other forms of sexual exploitation.

Sodomy on a Child

Sodomy on a child occurs when a person engages in a sexual act with a person who is under 14 years old that involves the genitals of one individual and the mouth or anus of another individual, regardless of whether consent was given.

Rape

Rape is defined as non-consensual sexual intercourse with another person through force, threat, or intimidation.

Object Rape

Object rape involves non-consensual penetration with an object against a person’s will.

Unlawful Sexual Conduct With a 16- to 17-year-old

Unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- to 17-year-old is when an adult, who is seven years older than the victim, engages in sexual conduct with a 16- to 17-year-old.

Lewdness

Lewdness is engaging in sexual behavior that is offensive to public decency and morality by exposing oneself, voyeurism, or other forms of inappropriate conduct.

Lewdness Involving a Child

Lewdness involving a child occurs when someone commits an act of lewdness in the presence of a child who is under 14 years old.

Sexual Exploitation

Sexual exploitation occurs when a person possesses, views, accesses with the intent to view, or maintains access with the intent to view, child sex abuse material.

Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

Aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor occurs when a person distributes or produces child sex abuse material, or if a parent or legal guardian knowingly consents or permits a minor to be sexually exploited through child sex abuse material/child pornography. 

Forcible Sodomy

Forcible sodomy is a forcible act of sexual penetration that often involves physical violence and trauma to the victim.

Sexual Exploitation of a Minor/Possession

Sexual exploitation of a minor/possession occurs when a person possesses or views child sex abuse material or child pornography.

Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

Aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor occurs when a person distributes or produces child sex abuse material, or if a parent or legal guardian knowingly consents or permits a minor to be sexually exploited through child sex abuse material/child pornography.

Failure to Register as a Sex Offender

Failure to register as a sex offender occurs when someone who has been convicted of certain sex offenses fails to register with local law enforcement and government agencies fully and completely as required by law.

Unlawful Sexual Activity With a Minor

Unlawful sexual activity with a minor is when an adult age 18 years or older engages in any sexual conduct with a person who is 14–16 years old.

Statutes of Limitations for Utah Sex Crimes

• In some cases, there are statutes of limitations that prevent prosecution after a certain period has passed since the alleged crime. Unlike many states, Utah has no statute of limitations for major sex crimes. You can face charges for these crimes at any time, including decades after the event occurred:
• Sexual abuse or aggravated sexual abuse of a child
• Forcible sodomy or sodomy on a child
• Human trafficking or aggravated exploitation of a child
• Rape or object rape of an adult or a child
• Aggravated sexual assault
• Prostitution or aggravated human trafficking

There are, however, some sex crimes that do have statutes of limitations in Utah. These third-degree felonies can only be tried for four years following the alleged crime:

• Sexual abuse of a minor
• Unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old
• Unlawful sexual activity with a minor

Forcible sexual abuse also has a statute of limitations, as does incest. These crimes can be charged for eight years following their commission. 

Misdemeanor sex crimes typically have two-year statutes of limitations.

Penalties and Sentencing Exposure

The penalties you could face for a sex crime conviction vary depending on what level of charges you are facing, whether you have a prior criminal history, and whether there were any aggravating or mitigating factors. Some sex crimes are charged as Class A misdemeanors, while others are third-, second-, or first-degree felonies. Depending on the level of charges, you can expect the judge to follow these sentencing guidelines:

• Class A misdemeanors. These crimes are punishable by up to 364 days in jail and fines of up to $2,500.
• Third-degree felony. These crimes are punishable by up to five years in prison and fines of up to $5,000.
• Second-degree felony. These crimes are punishable by one to 15 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000.
• First-degree felony. These crimes are punishable by five years to life in prison and fines of up to $10,000.

There are mandatory minimum sentences for both second-degree and first-degree felonies. Rape, for example, is a first-degree felony that has a mandatory minimum sentence of five years. Aggravating factors can increase that minimum.

Utah Sex Offender Registration

In many cases, it will be necessary for you to register as a sex offender if you are convicted of a sex crime, regardless of whether it’s tried as a misdemeanor or a felony. Registration in the sex crimes database can have severe negative consequences for your personal and professional life. It can affect everything from your work prospects to where you can live, creating real-world consequences not just for you but potentially also for your family.

If you’re required to comply with the sex offender registry requirements as part of your penalty for a sex crime, you’ll be required to provide:

• Full name
• Date of birth
• Address
• Phone numbers
• Photograph
• DNA sample
• Fingerprints
• Palm prints
• Social Security number
• Criminal history
• Driver’s license
• Passport
• Employer information
• Internet identifiers
• Vehicle information
• Professional licensing information
• School information

Not everyone can see all of this information. However, the national sex offender database makes it easy for people with no law enforcement credentials or prior training to look up offenders in their neighborhoods, so you can expect a social stigma to follow you until you are released from the registry. Depending on the severity of your conviction, whether there are multiple offenses, and your determined risk level, you could be on the registry for 10 years and up to a lifetime.

Pathways to Early Removal From the Database

There are pathways to early removal from the sex offender database in Utah. If you’ve been convicted of a sex crime that requires a 10-year registration period, you may be able to petition for your removal after five years. Additional pathways to removal from the sex offender database exist at the 10 and 20-year periods for more serious crimes that require lifetime registration.

Consequences for Failing to Register

You’re legally required to register for the database if it’s a condition of your conviction. If you fail to do so, you can face both state and federal charges. At the federal level, you can be prosecuted under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act for failure to register, leading to up to 10 years of prison time. 

At the state level, failure to register is treated as a felony. You could face mandatory prison time of up to 10 to 30 years, depending on the circumstances.

It’s important to note that you’re not just required to register initially. You must also keep your information up-to-date if you’re required to join the sex offender database. People often get charged with failure to register for reasons other than an initial, explicit refusal to join the registry. Reasons for these charges can include:

• Unreported address changes
• Travel
• Missing deadlines
• Paperwork errors

Even if you’re having issues with sex offender database registration based on a technicality like a paperwork error, you could face serious consequences. You should hire a Salt Lake City sex crime attorney to represent you throughout the legal proceedings surrounding your failure to register.

How Sex Crimes Are Investigated

Sex crimes investigations can get started in all kinds of ways. You’ll most likely become aware of your status as a person of interest or a suspect due to either an interview request or the service of a warrant for your arrest. Once you are under investigation, law enforcement will employ a wide variety of tactics to put together a case. They include:

• Reviewing phone downloads, messages, and location data
• Medically examining the alleged victim
• Testing for DNA and other forensic evidence
• Interviewing all involved or allegedly involved parties, including victims, witnesses, and suspects

You don’t need to wait until you’ve been arrested for a sex crime to seek legal counsel. Hiring a lawyer as early in the investigation process as possible can improve your chances of a positive outcome. Your lawyer can help you avoid making harmful statements to the police, assist you with preserving evidence that could work in your defense, and help you come up with an effective legal defense strategy.

Defending a Sex Crime

The type of defense your lawyer recommends will depend on what kind of criminal charges you are facing and the circumstances of your arrest. Common defenses include:

• Providing an alibi. If you can show that you were someplace else when the crime occurred, you should not be convicted of a sex crime. Your alibi could come in the form of a reliable witness or photographic or videographic evidence that you were not at the scene of the crime. Even a receipt showing you were present at a store far from where the sex crime occurred can be used to bolster an alibi defense.
• Misidentification. Eyewitness testimony can feel compelling to a jury, but the truth is that witnesses make mistakes about alleged perpetrators’ identities frequently. Police lineups aren’t always reliable, and the prosecution’s witnesses may not be as credible as they seem at first. Your lawyer may need to arrange for an expert witness to testify on the unreliability of the human memory for this defense to succeed.
• Questioning forensics. Juries love DNA evidence, but it’s not always reliable. Modern DNA testing is excessively sensitive, which can create problems with cross-contamination. Mishandling of DNA and other forensic evidence also occurs on occasion. Your attorney can use any evidence of mishandling or unusual findings to sow doubt in jurors’ minds.
• Consent. One of the most common defenses against sexual assault allegations is that the alleged victim actually consented to the act. This defense isn’t effective for cases that involve prostitution, children, or alleged victims who are unable to offer consent due to intoxication, mental incapacitation, unconsciousness, or an implicit power balance that makes it impossible for the victim to refuse.
• False accusations. It’s rare for people to make false accusations regarding sexual assault and related crimes, but it does happen. Alleged victims sometimes make up crimes out of malice or revenge, with the most common case for false accusations being divorces involving heated custody disputes. In these cases, your lawyer can try to prove that no crime was committed.

If you’re not sure which of these or another potential defense offers optimal chances of walking away from your charges, don’t worry. Your sex crime lawyer can evaluate the evidence and the prosecution’s case, using that information to inform their defense strategy.

What to Expect at Court

Where your trial takes place will vary depending on whether you’re facing felony charges, a Class A misdemeanor, or a Class B or C misdemeanor. The most serious cases are tried at the Third District Court, at the Matheson Courthouse located at 450 South State Street or the West Jordan Courthouse located at 8080 South Redwood Road, while less serious ones are tried at the Salt Lake City Justice Court, at 2001 State Street.

The steps you will go through are largely the same:

• First appearance. At your first appearance, the judge will inform you of the charges against you and let you know about your right to legal representation. You won’t have a first appearance for Class B or C misdemeanor crimes. If you’re being charged with a felony or a Class A misdemeanor, your preliminary hearing will be scheduled during your first appearance.
• Preliminary hearing. You might also hear this referred to as a probable cause hearing. This hearing gives the judge a chance to evaluate whether the prosecution has sufficient evidence against you to justify a full trial. You’ll only attend a preliminary hearing if you’re facing a felony or a Class A misdemeanor.
• Arraignment. If you’re facing a Class B or C misdemeanor, your first courtroom experience will be your arraignment. During this courtroom visit, you’ll enter a plea with the court. If you plead guilty, you’ll go straight to the sentencing phase. If you plead not guilty, you’ll go to trial.
• Pretrial conference. The pretrial conference gives your lawyer and the prosecutor a chance to try to settle your case.
• Trial. You will most likely face a jury trial unless you waive that right in favor of a bench trial, which involves only a judge. Regardless of which trial format you choose, your lawyer and the prosecution will make opening statements, followed by the presentation of evidence. The prosecution will construct its case, and then your lawyer gets the chance to defend you. The trial will end with closing arguments.
• Jury deliberations. The judge will issue instructions to the jury, which will then decide the verdict through deliberations.
• Sentencing. You’ll find out what your penalty will be during the sentencing hearing, which will also be the last possible step in your criminal trial. If you plead guilty at any point prior to or during the trial, you’ll move to sentencing.
• Appeal. In Utah, you typically can appeal a final judgment to a higher court. This process usually requires filing a formal Notice of Appeal, with some cases having stricter deadlines. Consult your lawyer about your specific appellate rights and procedural requirements.

Your Salt Lake City Sex Crime Lawyer

If you’re facing any kind of sex crime allegations, you need to take the situation seriously and hire a Salt Lake City sex crime lawyer right away. The team at Blackley & Wingad can help. We have decades of experience in defending clients against serious criminal charges, including cases involving rape, assault, and sexual conduct with a minor. We can help with your sex crime case, too. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation today.