High School Sex Crimes
Were You Charged With A Crime?
If your son or daughter is under investigation for a sex offense at high school or college, it is important to note that the standard investigative techniques by high school administrators, school resource officers (SRO), and Title IX investigators at college, will always err on the side of “campus safety”, not protecting an accused student’s rights.
For 25 years, Attorney Brad Koffel has been representing high school and college students and student-athletes accused of sex offenses ranging from “sexting”, gross sexual imposition (sexual touching of an erogenous zone), sexual battery, and rape (sexual conduct involving penetration).
Call us at (614) 675-4845 to speak with attorney Brad Koffel today.
Mr. Koffel has represented students as young as 12 years old accused of sexual offenses. The typical high school sex offense involves a 14 to 17-year-old boy and a girl who claims the sexual activity was non-consensual. Schools have become small police precincts with uniformed officers taking situations that used to be handled administratively by the school and filing delinquency complaints with the local juvenile court. In more serious sex offenses, it is not uncommon for the county prosecutor’s office to file an arrest warrant to have the high school student placed in detention before he even has a court date.
Under current Ohio law, sex offender registration is mandatory for 16-17 year olds and discretionary for 14-15-year-olds. Children under 14 cannot be ordered to register as sex offenders.
Also, there are very unique laws, rules of evidence and case law that controls these types of cases. It is not enough to handle a few of these cases every year to be an expert in the field. This is now a specialized area of criminal law.
Learn More About Ohio's Rape Penalty Sentencing Here.
If you are searching for the best defense lawyer in Ohio for your son or daughter, here some questions to ask the lawyer to determine if they are qualified:
- How many cases each week do you handle involving sex offenses of juveniles? The answer should be every day.
- How many years have you been representing families of accused juvenile sex offenders? We recommend that a lawyer be practicing in the field of criminal law for at least 10 years with an additional 10 years of experience in handling juvenile sex offenses.
- When was the last time you were in front of the judge that will be my child’s judge? You want a lawyer who has practiced before the juvenile judge at least once in the past year.
- Have you attended any national sexual assault seminars in the past 2 years? The best seminar in the United States is currently an annual defense attorney seminar sponsored by NACDL in the fall.
- Do you have any families of current or former clients that we can speak to before we make our decision? It has been our experience that every family that goes through this experience wants to share their experience with new families. We always have a handful of current clients who make themselves available by phone to talk to new families. There is comfort in numbers.
- How much are your legal fees? Juvenile sex offenses take a long time to defend. The case takes even longer if a plea bargain is reached and the youth is placed on probation with multiple probation review hearings. Legal fees in Ohio for the top defense lawyers are going to range from $15,000 - $50,000 depending upon the attorney and type of case.
Send us the details of your case through our online form.
Hire A Law Firm You Can Count On
If you were charged with a crime, you need to hire a criminal defense firm that you can trust to fight for your rights in court. At Koffel Brininger Nesbitt, our Columbus high school sex crime attorneys have spent their careers providing people accused of a crime with the tenacious and knowledgeable legal representation they need. Call us at (614) 675-4845 to discuss your situation over the phone, or send us the details of your case through our online form and a member of our firm will get back to you.
