Category Archives: Sex Crimes
Is Getting Catfished a Crime?
The bad news is that the Internet, with its anonymity and its hyperreality, brings out the worst in everyone. The good news is that almost nothing on the Internet is real. Every time you go to YouTube or Tik Tok to relax for a few minutes after a stressful phone call with a family… Read More »
Palm Beach County Doctor Acquitted of Sexual Battery of Patient
Being under investigation for an alleged crime is no fun, but remember that, unless and until you plead guilty or a jury unanimously finds you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, you cannot receive criminal penalties. Sometimes legal investigations go on for years, but the burden of proof is on the state even to file… Read More »
South Florida Physician Avoids Prison Time After Case Involving Sexual Assault Allegations
If you have never faced criminal charges, it may be hard to understand why the vast majority of defendants in criminal cases plead guilty. People do not wish to serve time in prison or on probation when the alternative is to simply go on with their lives as if the criminal case had never… Read More »
Florida Court Sentences Man To 21 Years In Prison For Multistate Sex Trafficking Of Minor
At first glance, the idea of a man getting criminal charges for transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes seems like it belongs to a bygone decade or to the realm of far-fetched fiction. Every day, unmarried couples take road trips to Florida from points north and stay in hotel rooms together,… Read More »
Delray Beach Man Faces Prison Sentence After Operating Sex Trafficking Ring For 20 Years
The old saying may be true that there is no sex in the champagne room, but plenty of illegal business deals transpire there, and plenty of incriminating secrets are exchanged under the cover of strobe lights and blaring music. One of the most disturbing scenes in The Big Short is when a stripper tells… Read More »
Boca Raton Registered Sex Offender Arrested For Traveling To Dominican Republic Without Permission
South Florida is such a delightful place that it feels like you are on vacation even when you are at home not doing much of anything. If that were not enough of a reason to move to the Gold Coast of Florida, then consider that so many other vacation destinations are only a hop,… Read More »
Broward Youth Cheerleading Coach Accused Of Enticement Of A Minor
It is against the law for adults to have romantic relationships with minors, except when the parties are very close in age, such as a 17-year-old high school senior dating an 18-year-old college freshman. Even when the inappropriate relationship only consists of text messages or online communications discussing a future or sexual or romantic… Read More »
Employee Of Broward News Station Arrested On Suspicion Of Video Voyeurism
Every journalist knows that cell phone cameras can be used for good or ill. In some cases, images and videos captured on mobile phones can tell the truth in ways that verbal accounts cannot. In their closing arguments during Derek Chauvin’s trial for the murder of George Floyd, prosecutors urged jurors to believe their… Read More »
Flanagan High School Teacher Arrested For Statutory Rape Of Student
Florida teens are known for their movie star levels of self confidence and for their encyclopedic knowledge of risqué lyrics, but their elders are not fooled by the façade and can see that the kids are just kids. Likewise, in Florida, the age of consent, meaning the age at which a person can legally… Read More »
Kodak Black Faces More Legal Trouble After Narrowly Avoiding Lengthy Prison Sentences Several Times
The best movies keep you guessing until the very end whether things will turn out well for the protagonists. Think of the most action-packed crime drama you have ever seen; it pales in comparison to the real-life experiences of Kodak Black who, at the tender age of 24, has been a prolific participant in… Read More »
Jury Finds Connecticut Man Guilty Of Trafficking Three Women To Miami Before Super Bowl
Screenwriters look at South Florida’s biggest celebrations and see right through to the seamy underbelly, and the Super Bowl, which has taken place in Miami 11 times in its 50-year history, is no exception. The crimes that go on while most people’s attention is on the big game, the halftime show, the commercials interesting… Read More »
Miami-Dade Teacher Arrested For Molestation Of 14-Year-Old Former Student
Florida’s age of consent for sexual activity is 18, but that does not mean that everyone who has ever been sexually active before turning 18 will get in legal trouble. The law generally does not punish teens who are close in age for having sexual relationships with each other unless coercion is involved. Relationships… Read More »
Palm Beach County Detectives Catch Minnesota Man Traveling To South Florida For What He Thought Was A Tryst With A High School Girl
Parents of teens have plenty of things to worry about. It is nerve-wracking to know that your teen is driving to school in South Florida traffic, even if she proved to you that she could handle the responsibility by saving all the money from her summer job and using it to pay for car… Read More »
Miami-Dade School Board Pays Settlement To Sexual Assault Victims As Former Teacher Serves Prison Sentence
Movies and TV shows make high school look glamorous, but no matter how old you are, you remember the awkwardness, the conflicts with your parents, and the worries about the future. Middle school, by contrast, is such a miserable experience that no amount of Hollywood glitz can mask its stench, and that’s only if… Read More »
Recreational DNA Testing Leads To 2021 Arrest In 2007 Rape Case
Getting a DNA test for genealogy purposes sounds like a lot more fun than it actually is. On the one hand, it is a wonder that you can find out so much about a person’s ancestry from a simple blood test or cheek swab; consumer DNA testing (as opposed to court-ordered or forensic DNA… Read More »
Broward Man Sentenced To Ten Years For Possession Of Child Exploitative Material
Sexual activity between consenting adults is legal, and as long as the World Wide Web has existed, online communication has often been synonymous with online communication about sex. Not long after social networking sites appeared, people began to use them to flirt, to ogle, and otherwise to discuss sex. If you are truly ancient,… Read More »
Broward Gastroenterologist Faces Charges For Sending Sexually Explicit Messages To Teens
In the past year, people who have never worked in the medical profession have spent more time than ever before thinking about how doctors spend their time. Since last spring, the medical profession has mobilized its resources to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, and its efforts have paid off to such an extent that summer… Read More »
Miami-Dade Police Lieutenant Faces Sexual Battery Charges For Alleged Attack On Colleague At Police Officers’ Convention
The terms assault and battery almost always occur together when they occur in ordinary speech that most people are not aware of the difference. In the context of sexual assault and sexual battery, sexual battery is the more serious charge of the two. The difference between the two charges is whether physical force is… Read More »
Case Against Broward Doctor Accused Of Possessing Child Sexual Abuse Images Prompts Proposed Changes To Law
The law says that you are innocent until proven guilty, so what happens between the time that you are arrested and the time of your trial, when a jury decides the verdict? It depends on how dangerous the judge thinks you are. Some people stay in jail, and if they are found guilty, the… Read More »
Palm Beach County Teacher Arrested On Charges Of Soliciting A Young Child
Before there was Facebook and back when Amazon only sold books, the frugal and entrepreneurial people of major American cities could turn to Craigslist to help them find gently used items at affordable prices and to look for opportunities for short-term and long-term employment. Likewise, before Tinder and its ilk, Craigslist was a place… Read More »
