Articles Posted in Sex Crimes

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This past Tuesday undercover police officers responded to an advertisement on Craigslist suggesting that the author was offering Sex For a Fee. The solicitation was provided by Heather Robinson who stated that she would be available at a motel in Framingham, Massachusetts. Officers arranged to meet her at her motel. During the meeting Robinson would perform full service sexual acts for one hundred fifty dollars. Once the agreement was finalized Robinson was arrested. She has been charged with Prostitution in the Framingham District Court.

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Prostitution Charges Issue Against Woman Who Used Craigslist To Advertise For Sexual Services

So what will happen to Robinson? Well, assuming she has no prior criminal record and that she Hire an Experienced Massachusetts Criminal Lawyer she might be able to walk away from this case without a criminal record. A dismissal with court costs, pre-trial probation or a continuance without a finding are all possible dispositions in this case.

This case brings up an interesting question that is being litigated nationally these days. Is Craigslist responsible for creating a public nuisance or is it in violation of federal and state prostitution laws? Just yesterday in Illinois a federal judge dismissed a case being brought by the Cook County Sheriff complaining that Craigslist is a public nuisance and in violation of various laws pertaining to prostitution. The suit claimed in part that Craigslist “solicits for a prostitute…by arranging meetings of persons for purposes of prostitution.” Similar lawsuits in other states are being filed as well. Craigslist has responded by making changes to its advertising solutions.

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Acting in an undercover capacity Salem, Massachusetts Police Detective Bill Jennings met forty six year old Lisa Anderson at her apartment posing as a potential client. Anderson had a website listing her services as an escort or companion. She greeted Jennings in a bra, thong and nylons. The two conversed and agreed on a price of two hundred dollars an hour for sex. Anderson was then arrested and charged with one count of Prostitution and one count of Using a Building for Prostitution. The case is being prosecuted in the Salem District Court.

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Massachusetts Woman Charged With Prostitution After Being Solicited By Undercover Officer

So what is Anderson looking at? Well, she is probable being charged under M.G.L. ch. 272 Section 53A making it a crime to engage in sex for a fee or to offer to do so. The maximum sentence is one year in the house of correction and/or a five hundred dollar fine. Using a Building for Prostitution is a crime pursuant to M.G.L. ch. 139 Section 4. The maximum sentence under that statute is three years in state prison, making this crime a felony. I would guess that if Anderson gets an Experienced Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer and if she has no record or an unremarkable criminal record the district attorney will agree to dismiss the felony and continue the Prostitution charge without a finding.

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K.M. Allen of Lynn, Massachusetts has been indicted by an Essex County grand jury on counts of Rape of a Child, Exhibiting a Child in a State of Nudity and Enticing a Child For Sexual Purposes. The defendant met the victim on MySpace. He represented himself to be a movie producer looking for women who he offered to pay. The victim is from Boston. It is alleged that she and Allen exchanged nude pictures over the internet. In July the two met in person and had sex with one another at Allen’s home. A search of Allen’s home revealed the photographs the victim sent Allen. A computer that was seized from his home is being analyzed by the prosecution. The case will be prosecuted in the Essex County Superior Court in Salem.

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Massachusetts Man Charged With Rape Of A Child After Internet Encounter Leads To Meeting For Sex

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 23 makes Statutory Rape a crime in Massachusetts. The law itself refers to the act as “Rape of a Child”. It states specifically that anyone who “unlawfully has sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse, and abuses a child under 16 years of age, shall be punished”. The conviction carries with it a potential life sentence. Consent is not a defense to Rape of a Child, nor is ignorance of the victim’s actual age. In essence, the only defense to this charge is that the act never happened. These cases are not always easy to prove. The victim is not always the person who reports the rape. Many times it is a friend in whom she confided or a family member, particularly a parent who found out about the act by reading emails or text messages. The victim’s reluctance to testify or, in some instances her denial of the occurrence hinders the prosecution. Corroborative evidence eases the district attorney’s task in many respects. For instance, in this case the pictures, while not necessarily proof of rape are extremely damaging to the defense. They also serve as the basis for the prosecution of the other counts, a violation of M.G.L. c. 272 Section 29A. A conviction for this crime carries a minimum ten year state prison sentence. The severity of these charges suggests that Mr. Allen needs an Experienced Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer to defend this case.

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A Massachusetts man and known sex offender was arrested and charged with Attempted Rape earlier this week. Police allege that Scott Gagnon of Tewksbury assaulted a woman who was jogging on Plum Island and attempted to rape her. The woman managed to escape and call the police on her cell phone. Gagnon is a level 3 sex offender. He was convicted of sex crimes for which he had served twenty seven years in state prison in Massachusetts. Just last week Gagnon was caught soliciting a prostitute in Haverhill. He was charged and arrested with that crime as well. Gagnon, 51 is being held on fifty thousand dollars cash bail. The case is currently being prosecuted in the Newburyport District Court. It is expected that the case will be indicted and handled in the Essex County Superior Court.

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Tewksbury, Massachusetts Man Charged With Sex Crime, Attempted Rape After Attacking Plum Island Woman

Undoubtedly the prosecution in this case will be looking for the maximum sentence authorized if Gagnon is convicted. Assault With the Intent to Commit Rape is a felony in Massachusetts proscribed by Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 24. A conviction carries a possible twenty year sentence for first time offenders and life for second and subsequent offenders. This case will likely rest exclusively on the testimony of the victim. It appears that there were no witnesses to the incident. There is no mention of physical evidence corroborating the victim’s story in this article. Naturally, if such evidence does exist it makes the prosecution’s case stronger. A key strategy to Gagnon’s defense will be to try to make sure his prior convictions are not mentioned or even eluded to at trial. Most likely Gagnon will go to trial on this case unless the prosecution or a judge permits him to plead to a sentence he can accept.

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On Labor Day three women were in a parking lot at a convenience store in Waltham, Massachusetts. At around 1:00 p.m. Christopher Gavilanes, a Somerville resident drove by them. While doing so he allegedly yelled out “hey ladies”. When they looked over Gavilanes was fondling himself. The women then called the police and provided them with Gavilanes’ license plate number. He was later arrested and charged with Open and Gross Lewdness. The case will be prosecuted in the Waltham District Court. Gavilanes was released on personal recognizance.

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Sex Crimes Charges For Somerville, Massachusetts Man Who Exposed Himself

Open and Gross Lewdness in Massachusetts is a felony in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 272 Section 16. The statute permits a sentence of up to three years in state prison after a conviction. Typically these cases are prosectued in the district courts where the maximum sentence permitted by statute is two years in the house of correction. Judges can continue these cases without a finding. When that disposition is imposed the defendant is spared the stigma of a felony conviction. The case will be dismissed as soon as the defendant completes the terms of probation, if any, that are set by the judge or probation department. If Galvines has no criminal record that is how this case might get resolved.

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Sean Dodd of Taunton, Massachusetts has been arrested and charged with Rape of a Child By Force. The victim is the daughter of his girlfriend with whom he lived. The prosecution alleges that the thirty one year old Dodd sexually abused and raped the girl over a three year period, beginning when she was twelve years old. When the victim was fifteen her boyfriend convinced her that what Dodd was doing was wrong. She then confronted him in an effort to end the abuse. She claimed that while doing so she was struck by Dodd. The police investigated the assault but were never informed about the sexual abuse. One of the victim’s friends’ apparenty told her the victim’s mother about the Rapes at which point Dodd was kicked out of the house. The victim’s mother has recently taken out a Restraining Order against Dodd. The case in now pending in the Taunton District Court but will probably be prosecuted for Rape in the Bristol County Superior Court in New Bedford.

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Taunton, Massachusetts Man Charged With Raping Girl Over Three Year Period

These cases are difficult to defend even under the best circumstances. A likely scenario is that there is no physical evidence linking Dodd to the crimes and that there are no eyewitnesses. The case will rest solely on the complaining witnesses’ testimony. How then can Dodd effectively rebut these accusations? It is tough because jurors often ask: “Why would the girl lie about something as heinous as this?” Perhaps Dodd will be able to show that the girl had a reason for lying. Maybe she sought attention from her mother or her boyfriend. Maybe she hated Dodd for reasons that do not implicate criminal conduct on his part. You can explore many of the reasons for false sexual abuse allegations by reading the Nichols Consulting Blog or Website. For Dodd the battle is just beginning.

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A twenty one year old woman was sitting on her porch late last week when Pamphra Mulondo of Framingham, Massachusetts rode his bike by home. He stopped, pulled down his fly and fondled himself for two minutes. The woman then walked to a local drug store and saw Mulondo again. She became nervous and asked store employees to contact the police. The defendant was arrested and charged with open and gross lewdness and disorderly person. The case is pending in the Framingham District Court.

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Framingham Man Charged With Sex Crime After Fondling Himself In Front Of Woman

Open and gross lewdness in Massachusetts is a felony proscribed by Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 272 Section 16. A conviction of this offense carries a possible three year state prison sentence or a two year house of correction sentence if the district attorney chooses to prosecute the case in the district court. This crime requires the district attorney to prove that the defendant intentionally, indecently and offensively exposed himself in such a way as to produce alarm. To convict someone of this crime a jury must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted in such a way as to alarm or shock. Here, the actions of the defendant appear to satisfy the elements of this offense. If he does not have a criminal record a good lawyer should be able to get this matter continued without a finding.

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The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office has charged Eric Lopez with Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child Under the Age of 14 and Unarmed Burglary. According to reports Lopez and the victim lived in the same apartment building. Lopez purportedly went into the victim’s bedroom, took offer her underwear and committed an offensive touching. Apparently the girls’ mother was not home during the incident but returned in time to see Lopez leaving the home. The case was reported to the police and Lopez is currently being prosecuted in the Quincy District Court. Bail has been set in the amount of twenty five thousand dollars.

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Quincy, Massachusetts Man Charged With Sex Crime, Breaking And Entering

Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child Under the Age of Fourteen is a felony pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 13B. If the district attorney chooses to indict the case and prosecute it in the Superior Court a conviction can result in a ten year state prison sentence. If the case is kept in the District Court the maximum sentence is two and one half years in the House of Correction. If convicted of this crime Lopez will have to register with the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB). There are certain dispostions short of trial that might permit Lopez to avoid a conviction and the requirement of registering as a sex offender. The absence of a criminal history, victim credibility issues and good lawyering are factors that will weigh heavily in regard to the outcome of this case.

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Jeremy Fife has been charged with Possession of Child Pornography stemming from an incident that occurred at a swimming pool supply business, Fife’s place of employment. This past weekend a store manager opened Fife’s laptop and found the desktop filled with files suggestive of child pornography. Danvers, Massachusetts police were immediately called and they began to question Fife. Fife claimed that the files were accidentally downloaded by a file sharing program that was supposed to download music. Fife claimed to have deleted as many files as he could however authorities found at least one hundred photographs depicting child pornography. The judge sitting the Salem, Massachusetts District Court set bail at ten thousand dollars and ordered Fife to have no contact with children, not go near any schools, and not possess or use a computer.

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Child Pornography Charges Issue Against Massachusetts Man

Possession of Child Pornographic Material is a crime in Massachusetts in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 272 Section 29C. This crime is a felony in Massachusetts and a conviction of this offense can subject you to up to five years in state prison. A typical defense to this crime is an individual’s lack of intent. It is often argued that the material was sent to the defendant gratuitously. I often recommend to my clients charged with this type of offense to engage a computer expert who can examine the computer’s hard drive and determine whether the defendant actively procured the material or was himself the victim of someone else’s criminal activity. While these experts can be expensive I highly recommend them in cases such as this one.

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Last year, on June 28, 2008 Boston, Massachusetts resident Michael Wilder was at a party in Ashland, Massachusetts. The alleged victim was there at the same time. Apparently she was not feeling well and went outside. It is at that time that the woman claims that Wilder assaulted her. The victim reported the incident that day and Wilder was arrested by members of the Ashland Police Department and charged with Rape and Assault and Battery. Charges initially issued in the Framingham District Court and bail was set in the amount of ten thousand dollars. Now that Wilder has been indicted the case will be prosecuted in the Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn. According to reports Wilder has an open drug case in Waltham as well.

Boston Man To Face Rape Charges Stemming From Incident At A Party One Year Ago

In looking at this case here are some things that a Massachusetts Rape Defense Lawyer might be looking at. What information can other people who were at the party provide? Did the victim come back into the party after the alleged and if so what was her demeanor? Is there any physical evidence, i.e. DNA, pubic hair or saliva corroborating the victim’s complaints? How long after the act was the complaint made? Why did it take over one year to indict the case? During the discovery process and in the course of trial preparation these questions will likely be answered.

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