Juvenile Sex Crime Charges

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What can we expect when a juvenile is charged with a sex crime in Minnesota?

Prosecutors use the same Criminal Sexual Conduct statutes to charge both adults and juveniles. But juveniles are under 18 years old.

Juveniles facing sex crime charges

Traditional juvenile courts date back to social reforms of the late 19th Century. Then, other social justice movements also reformed abuses in child labor, slavery, women’s rights. But before that, prosecutors charged children with crimes the same as adults, with similar consequences if convicted.

A key reform of the “juvenile court” for children accused of crimes was a shift away from punishment, towards rehabilitation. And today, rehabilitation is still the primary goal of traditional juvenile court. Anonymity (privacy) means a better opportunity to rehabilitate and become a full, productive member of society. Juvenile court records on delinquency cases were non-public, private data, protected by law.

But in recent decades that changed. Exceptions to closed juvenile records have grown in Minnesota. So now, juvenile records are public for felonies for children 16 or older at the time of the alleged act.

This means that Minnesota juvenile delinquency records are now generally non-public for children under 16 years old. And this serves the public policy of giving younger juveniles more of a second chance to rehabilitate. So with anonymity, the reformed young person can live a normal life, without a public criminal record destroying their future.

No good deed goes unpunished: For juveniles who could benefit from human sexuality treatment services, unfortunately Minnesota does not have a “safe harbor” statute to protect self-reporting juveniles from prosecution (who would otherwise go undetected). To the contrary, Minnesota has a “mandatory reporting law” requiring treatment providers to report juveniles who admit illegal sex with other underage people, to child protection and police. As a result, the laws incentivize avoiding sexuality treatment. See:

Sex Offender Treatment & Sentencing in Minnesota.

Injustice: juvenile sex crime charges

Minnesota’s ill-conceived sex offender registration statute, requires a juvenile adjudicated guilty of any crime, where the the Delinquency Petition included a felony sex crime, to register as a predatory offender. This means that their “adjudication” (roughly equal to a conviction for an adult) for a sex offense is more public. And that includes 11 year-olds on up through 17 year-olds.

But this law is even worse, since most sex crimes in Minnesota are not common law rape crimes. Instead, most involve consensual acts of a sexual nature where the crime is based merely on an age difference. Yes, juveniles are charged with crimes for consensual relationships solely due to an age difference.

And we sometimes refer to these as Romeo and Juliet age-based sex crime cases.

What is sexting?

The term “sexting” refers to sending sexual images, usually depicting the sender, via text messaging. And various phone apps, like Snapchat, can also be tools for sexting. But when a person under-18 takes pornographic selfies, a prosecutor could charge them with child pornography, a felony sex crime.

And prosecutors can charge other crimes related to sexting, as well. Young people are still learning about the law. But when a child faces a sexting charge; a juvenile sex crimes defense attorney can help.

Some juveniles can become victims of sextortion schemes. Some online social media contact eventually manipulates them into sexting sexual images of themselves. That is a crime, see:

Coercion | blackmail, extortion crimes and defenses

Defending Juvenile Sex Crime Charges

A charge is just a claim, an unproven accusation. In order for a judge to find probable cause, or to convict after a trial, the government must show evidence to back up their damaging claims. And the defense attorney along with his juvenile Respondent can challenge that evidence and may provide defense evidence as well, to cast doubt upon the government theory. All the defenses available in an adult criminal case are available in a juvenile delinquency case. When it comes to disposition if the court does adjudicate, juvenile cases are different with the law prioritizing rehabilitation (compared to adult criminal cases). More:

Criminal Evidence Law | Suppression

Criminal Defenses in Minnesota

Sex Crime Charge Defense

Age-Based Sex Crime Charges in Minnesota

Why Thomas Gallagher, Juvenile Sex Crimes Attorney

The way to prevent the Predatory Registration problem begins with preventing adjudication (conviction) of your juvenile.

Minnesota sex crimes lawyer Thomas Gallagher has defended juveniles against claims like this since 1988. So he has been serving clients as a Minnesota juvenile defense lawyer for decades:

Juvenile Delinquency Defense.

And his formula for success is simple. Help the client understand the legal threats and opportunities. The client sets a goal for outcome. And then we lay out the path to get there, step by step. We find a way.

Hard work, and perseverance pay off. But we can’t do it without the client. Attorney Thomas Gallagher listens and understands. He coaches and leads the way to the desired outcome.

Question? Call Attorney Thomas Gallagher, 612 333-1500

And Attorney Thomas Gallagher is an expert guide. He’s been doing it for decades. And he can do it again for you. Attorney Thomas Gallagher has helped many juvenile clients charged with sex crimes avoid adjudication. He welcomes calls to discuss representation in an initial phone consultation.

More

Court Process Guide | Criminal Procedure

Minnesota Crimes & Criminal Laws

Dissemination of Private Sexual Images Cases

Innocent | False Sex Crime Charges

Underage Consumption: Can a Minor Refuse Breath Test?