Defenses to Corruption of Minors Charge in Pennsylvania

On Behalf of | Aug 23, 2015 | Sex Crimes

If you are being investigated for a sex crime in Pennsylvania, it is imperative that you hire an experienced Sex Crime Corruption of Minors Lawyer before you speak with law enforcement.

One sex crime  that almost all Defendants are charged with when there is an allegation of inappropriate and nonconsensual touching between themselves and another, such as the crime of Sex Assault, is the charge of Corruption of Minors. Corruption of Minors, is punishable by seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine when the allegations concern inappropriate sexual conduct.

What is Corruption of Minors?

Corruption of Minors is defined as follows:

“Whoever, being of the age of 18 years and upwards, by any course of conduct in violation of Chapter 31 (relating to sexual offenses) corrupts or tends to corrupt the morals of any minor less than 18 years of age, or who aids, abets, entices or encourages any such minor in the commission of an offense under Chapter 31 commits a felony of the third degree.

Thus, if you are being investigated for the charge of Corruption of Minors, the government must prove the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt in order to convict you:

1) The Defendant was over 18 years of age;

2) The alleged victim was a minor;

3) engaged in a sexual offense with the alleged victim via a course of conduct (more than once);

4) and the sexual offense tended to corrupt the morals of the alleged victim.

What are the Defenses to a Corruption of Minors Charge?

The main defense to the charge of Corruption of Morals is that there was no sexual contact (and certainly not a course of conduct) between the accused and the alleged victim. Defenses such as this typically come down to whether or not there is corroborating evidence of sexual contact between the accused and the alleged victim, i.e. Is there DNA(to learn Ways to Challenge DNA in Sex Cases ) evidence of the Defendant? Was the sexual contact promptly reported to law enforcement? Are there text messages between the parties? Any witnesses? etc.

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