Sex offenses are some of the most difficult types of crimes to defend. While juries and the public are willing to consider most criminal defendants to be innocent until proven guilty, and while they are supposed to do this in sex cases, often they are unable to do so. This is particularly true when the alleged victim of the offense is a child, as most people do not understand the reality that children can be easily led to make false or inaccurate allegations. That is why it is so important that when you are facing charges for a sex offense that you obtain the help of a criminal defense attorney who is experienced with defending this type of offense. There are many different types of sex offenses one can be charged with in Illinois, so it is important for you to understand exactly what it is you are being accused of having done.

Criminal Sexual Assault

Criminal sexual assault is a felony sex offense in Illinois. A person commits this offense if he or she commits an act of sexual penetration and one of the following four statements is true:

When you are charged with a sex offense you need the help of a criminal defense attorney who is experienced with defending this type of offense. Because of the unique types of evidence that are often used in cases involving allegations of sex crimes, these cases often require specialized knowledge. Additionally, these cases often hinge on the testimony of the victim more than any other type of case, meaning you need an attorney who knows how to handle victims in court. There are a whole host of different sex crimes charges in Illinois, and each of them has slightly different requirements in order for one to be found guilty. One such charge is predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, a serious allegation that carries significant penalties upon conviction.

Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child

A person can be found guilty of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child if he or she is age 17 or older and has does one of the following with a person who is less than 13 years old:

A crippling backlog of rape kit testing is a problem in different counties and states across the country. Unsurprisingly, the state of Illinois is no exception. Backlogs in rape kit testing – due to numerous factors, ranging from the mishandling of kits to understaffing of testing labs – often caused rape cases to go without being prosecuted, essentially victimizing the one assaulted for the second time. Now, an important change in the law seeks to prevent situations like that from occurring.

Cases Influencing Change

In one case, a woman was beaten and raped in a south suburb of Chicago in 1977. After the incident, the local police department failed to follow through on her case, losing evidence crucial to apprehending a suspect. As a result of their failure to follow through, enough time passed for the statute of limitations to run out on the case, which prevented charges from ever being filed. Despite the failure and the victim’s loss of confidence in the justice system, she continued to fight for change in the law.

It goes without saying that sex crimes of any nature are very serious cases that should be handled with special care and attention. Sex crimes can involve a variety of incidents leading to criminal charges, but the government and law enforcement in the Chicago area are focusing their efforts on human trafficking, and the organizations involved in promoting it. A recent article explained the city’s actions in relation to targeting those culpable of such crimes.

Government Action

The Chicago Tribune recently reported on a story covering the delay in processing and sometimes complete failure of rape kits to be tested by law enforcement and lab workers across the country. The fear of many is that as a result of this failure, victims would not get justice and their attackers would remain free to rape them and potential other victims, as long as they were not in prison. As a result, many concerned citizens are forming organizations and getting involved in groups aimed at eliminating the backlog and coming up with alternative ways of testing rape kits and tracking them.

Many advocates of the victims allege that the backlog in testing is attributed to the low priority that many sexual assault victims are given by law enforcement. Illinois was the first of four states to mandate the testing of rape kits, which it implemented in 2010. Now, the almost 4,100 kits that were untested at the time have been processed, some decades old. The completed kits were sent back to the appropriate local police departments for further action. The results made 927 matches in the national DNA database, giving law enforcement promising leads.

That law in Illinois gives police 10 business days to transfer completed rape kits to the state crime labs. The labs, in turn, have six months to process the kits. While the law is considered to be a step in the right direction, the conditions under which it must be followed are flexible: police compliance is voluntary and the time limit only applies to labs if they have enough staff and resources for administering the testing. State officials are monitoring the law and looking into how the process can be improved.