Being accused of any type of sex crime can not only deal severe damage to a person’s reputation, it can haunt him or her for the rest of his or her professional life and personal life. One of the main reasons for this is that when a Georgia resident is found guilty of a sex crime, his or her name may be placed on the a sex offender registry in Dekalb County or elsewhere, meaning anyone can find out about the crime simply by looking it up online. Even setting the registry aside, however, being accused of sex crimes can follow a person for years.
One example of past crimes brought up years later is the recent uncovering of two Georgia Boy Scout leaders who were at some point convicted of allegations involving sexual misconduct with children. One of the former Scout leaders was accused of molesting a boy almost 50 years ago. , While it would appear no charges were filed in connection with this allegation, the accusation still can be traced back to the man decades later. The man served time in prison beginning in the 1990s on an unrelated child molestation charge.
When someone is accused of a sex crime, it is important they seek assistance immediately in order to prevent damage to their reputation as much as possible. Even false accusations can deal incalculable harm to someone’s reputation. Also, there are defenses to sexual assault accusations that the accused may not know of without seeking help. Some of those include consent, mental incapacity and even having an alibi for the time of the alleged incident.
The prosecution has to prove the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. So, if there is an alibi or other credible evidence that can be offered by the defendant in his or her defense, then that could be enough to overcome even some of the most serious charges.
Being accused of a sex crime is something that can potentially haunt the accused person for the rest of his or her life. The most important step to try to prevent that is to seek help immediately.
Source: The Florida Times-Union, “Boy Scout files name 2 Georgia leaders later convicted of child sex crimes,” Oct. 21, 2012