Defending false accusations of child molestation
Defense lawyers were successful yesterday in a child molestation case in Marietta (Cobb County), Georgia. The jury returned a verdict of "not guilty" on one count, and could not reach a verdict on the other counts. The defense lawyers who tried the case were obviously pleased with the result. The Atlanta Journal Constitution discusses the verdict and the lawyers' reactions.
Our law firm has handled dozens of false accusations of molestation. Many times, we can investigate the case before an indictment and convince prosecutors not to charge our client. But it takes a lot of work. One of our clients was arrested for molesting two of his step-daughters. We hired a former FBI polygraph expert, had the daughters re-interviewed by our investigator (another former FBI agent), and had a forensic expert review the videotaped interviews of the children to point out the leading questions used by the examiner. The client was never indicted and all charges were dismissed.
In another case, we were retained after indictment and had to defend the case at trial. The client was charged in Winder (Barrow County), Georgia with six counts of aggravated child molestation. We were able to convince the jury that the allegations were false and the jury found him not guilty on all counts.
Sometimes, we are brought in to handle the appeal. Earlier this year, we were successful in reversing a child molestation conviction for our client based on ineffective assistance of counsel. The client would have served the rest of his life in prison, but the Georgia Supreme Court reversed his conviction. He was released from prison last month.
There are certainly legitimate cases of child molestation. But we are seeing more and more false molestation arrests because law enforcement will often accept the child's version of the events without fully investigating the circumstances of the allegations. Given the recent statutes increasing the punishment for these offenses to mandatory prison sentences of up to 25 years for the first offense, lawyers defending these cases need to be diligent and reach out to experts in the field for ways to determine if the allegations may be false and/or motivated by an unknown agenda.
No one needs a good defense lawyer more than someone charged with a sex offense.
