Westchester County Sex Crimes Lawyer

It is essential that you retain the services of a highly experienced Westchester County sex crime defense attorney if you have been charged with any type of sex crime. Society demonizes those accused of any type of sex crime. That is fact. Sadly, in these cases, prosecutors, judges & police often eschew the constitutional rights of the accused – specifically and most critically, the presumption of innocence. Even based upon a mere accusation, many people in the criminal justice system have already convicted you in their minds. That is but one of the very compelling reasons that you absolutely must retain a top-tier Sex Crimes Attorney to stand up and defend you.  

At Portale Randazzo LLP, we have over 150 years of combined experience fighting for our clients who are facing rape, sex abuse investigations, or worse yet, criminal prosecution. At Portale Randazzo, all partners are former prosecutors with investigations and trial experience, and attorney Mike Duffy was Chief of Investigations at the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office under the Honorable Jeanine Pirro. So, we have a granular understanding of both the preliminary investigation stages and the secondary court system. When you hire a Westchester County sex crimes lawyer, we will build an aggressive and intentional defense strategy to exonerate you.

It cannot be overlooked that if you are being investigated for a sex crime, the overwhelming odds are that you will be arrested if you commit the schoolboy error of agreeing to “cooperate” with police and speak to them without counsel. An analysis of National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data for large and midsized law enforcement agencies (LEAs) showed that arrests were made in only about 15% of rape cases in 2016.

That aggregate number skyrockets when the following factors are incorporated; 1.) the unjust impact that the “Me Too” movement has had on law enforcement prosecutorial decisions over the last decade, and 2.) the ill-advised but all too common cases where a suspect speaks to police without counsel. The point is this, if you think you are going to march into the police precinct and convince a sex crimes detective that you are innocent, you are sorely mistaken and will most certainly end up behind bars and quite possibly on the receiving end of a false confession. Don’t even think about it; reach out immediately and get our expert sex crimes defense attorneys involved to guard against the police, prosecutors, and courts from trampling your rights.

Here are some examples of lives we have saved:

• Our teenage client had spent the last few months working through the stages of grief after the tragic loss of his father when a girl he had been sleeping with regularly accused him of rape. This promising young man lived with his recently widowed mother and was a conscientious student. The false allegation and investigation into an alleged forcible rape could not have come at a worse time for this family, rocking the client and his mom to the core. Westchester Sex Crimes Attorney Richard A. Portale went to work on this tragic case at the very early stages and not only convinced the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office that this malicious young lady was lying but worked tirelessly to have her arrested and charged with the crimes of Offering a False Instrument for Filing and Perjury. Adam Levy, the newly elected Putnam County District Attorney, required the troubled girl to pay restitution to our client’s family for the money they had spent on Attorney’s and Investigator’s fees.
• A longtime client of ours had traveled to the West Coast for business and had no choice but to blow up the cell phone of Westchester Criminal Attorney Richard A. Portale in the middle of the night. The client franticly explained that he was wanted for questioning by Oregon police – he was being accused of raping a young woman he met in the hotel bar after a night of heavy drinking. From across the country, Mr. Portale immediately interceded between the client and the sex crimes detectives, who can sometimes be very jaded and overly aggressive. Mr. Portale used his vast network to locate an investigator that was sympathetic to our client’s cause. Within weeks, Mr. Portale was able to prove to the sex crimes detectives that the maligned accuser was not credible, and our client was cleared of all charges. It cannot be overlooked that these detectives took their jobs very seriously and did things the right way. They took the time to thoroughly examine all the evidence rather than making a knee-jerk arrest –a real throwback to the days of common sense and patience in the investigation stages of sex crimes allegations.
• A New York City man (brother of a Major League Baseball Hall of Famer) and his fiancé were accompanied to their New York City home by a third female for a threesome. This dream turned into a nightmare when the young woman later accused the client of forcible rape. New York Sex Crimes Attorney Richard A. Portale’s working knowledge of forensic DNA testing and procedures allowed the victim of this spurious allegation to maintain his innocence and preserve his integrity and reputation. The Manhattan rape indictment was eventually dismissed. Unfortunately, our client’s heartless accuser was never prosecuted for lying about the incident and nearly ruining our client’s life with her wanton disregard for the truth.
• A young black man was accused of raping a white girl in the stairwell of the White Plains mall. The evidence included our client’s DNA recovered from a cigarette butt found inside the stairwell. From the moment Westchester Criminal Lawyer Richard A. Portale took over the case from outgoing counsel, the client was released and did not spend another day in jail.
• A White Plains taxi driver was falsely accused of raping a New Rochelle woman in a church parking lot – when the woman couldn’t pay her fare. The woman claimed that our client had hopped into backseat, trapped her inside by pressing the door lock button, and raped her. The client had sadly lost his job and his wife as a result. Our steely and creative Westchester sex crimes attorneys argued, amongst other valid points, that the complainant’s statement didn’t hold water because the vehicle’s door locking mechanism could not be activated from the backseat and there was a solid, bulletproof glass divider between the front and back seats. All charges were dismissed, and the man is back on his feet, back to work and remarried.
• At a time of volatility in the New York State appellate landscape surrounding the evolving crime of Attempted Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors, the firm had three (3) pending but unindicted cases under that statute (NYS Penal Law section 235). A conviction for this sex crime is a felony that carries a significant state prison sentence and up to a lifetime of Sex Offender Registration. New York Sex Crimes attorney Richard Portale deftly leveraged a looming New York State Court of Appeals decision into incredibly favorable resolutions for all three (3) clients that involved no felony, no jail, no probation, and no sex offender registration.

Why Do I Need a Westchester County, NY, Sex Crimes Attorney?

False Rape Allegations, A Case Study:

Of the many controversies surrounding the crime of rape, no more difficult issue arises than dealing with false allegations. False rape charges have probably been in existence as long as the concept of rape itself. However, in the 20th century, medical jurisprudence witnessed a new development that enabled false allegations to be viewed as a singular instance of gender-related lying.

Take for instance, the data-based case study of one police agency in a small metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. This city was picked because it offered an almost model laboratory for studying false rape allegations. False rape allegations were investigated from 1978 to 1987. In the study, 41 percent of the total disposed rape cases were officially declared false. The incidence figure was variable from year to year. The data showed that all the complainants were white, largely of lower socioeconomic background, and a majority was modestly educated. The study of the 45 cases of false rape allegations led to the conclusion that these false charges were able to serve three major functions for the complainants: providing an alibi, a means of gaining revenge, and a platform for seeking attention/sympathy.

This tripartite model resulted from the complainants’ own words during recantation and does not constitute conjecture. False rape allegations are not the consequence of a gender-related aberration, as frequently claimed, but reflect impulsive and desperate efforts by women to cope with personal and social stress. (Polygraph Volume: 30 Issue: 3 Dated: 2001 Pages: 163-171 Eugene J. Kanin, 2001 – published by the United States Department of Justice NCJRS Library).

In referencing the impactful, data-based study above, we are in no way attempting to minimize the indelible impression a sex crime may impose on the life of a survivor. Rather, our intention is to provide data-based empirical evidence of false allegations to accentuate the absolute necessity of a seasoned sex crimes defense attorney to stand up for the accused, whatever the age, race, or gender, and remind the players in the justice system of the accused’s constitutional right to the presumption of innocence guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

Sex crimes carry a certain stigma that will stay with you long after conviction. Not only do these convictions come with significant criminal penalties, but they also require you to register as a sex offender, which can negatively affect your life for the foreseeable future. At Portale Randazzo LLP, part of our mission is to challenge police, investigators, prosecutors, and judges and remind them (and legally force them, if necessary) to respect our client’s Constitutional rights, and specifically the Sixth Amendment right to remain innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Types of Sex Crimes

Because sex crime allegations often elicit a visceral reaction from the media and the community, police and prosecutors often engage in knee-jerk prosecutorial decisions and unduly harsh treatment of the accused. Our Westchester County sex crimes lawyers have the depth of knowledge and experience to slow this process down and ensure the facts of your case are thoroughly examined and considered and that you are treated fairly.

Our sex crimes criminal defense attorneys are well prepared to handle cases involving allegations of:

• Rape - Rape crimes are defined as when a person has sexual intercourse with another person by force and without their consent. There are three degrees of rape, with rape in the first degree being the most serious. While the penalties associated with each degree vary in terms of severity, each one is considered a felony. For this reason, it is vital you hire a sex crime defense attorney as soon as you are suspected of a sex crime.
• Criminal Sexual Act - A criminal sexual act is committed when someone has oral or anal sex without the consent of another person. Like rape crimes, there are three degrees of criminal sexual acts. A criminal sexual act in the third degree is a class E felony; a second-degree act is a class D felony; and a first-degree criminal sexual act is a class B felony. Since a person could face up to 25 years in prison for a criminal sexual act, it is imperative they retain a qualified Westchester County sex crimes lawyer.
• Sex Abuse - Sexual abuse can be classified as either a misdemeanor or a felony. If you are being accused of an act that is sexual in nature and does not involve intercourse, you need a sexual abuse lawyer on your side. We have over 100 years of combined experience fighting for charges to be refuted and dismissed. Our sexual assault defense attorneys in White Plains, NY, will fight to defend your innocence and reputation from arraignment through a trial. Our New York sex crimes attorney can defend you against the following charges:
  • Sex Abuse in the Third Degree: These types of cases revolve around nonconsensual sexual contact between two people. Defendants face up to 3 months of jail time.
  • Sex Abuse in the Second Degree: If the abuse involves a person younger than 14 years old or incapable of providing consent for any reason, the act is considered sexual abuse in the second degree, which is a class A misdemeanor. It carries a penalty of a maximum of one year in prison.
  • Sex Abuse in the First Degree: A person will be charged with sexual abuse in the first degree (a class D felony) if they are believed to have forced sexual contact, made sexual contact with a person who was unable to give consent due to being physically helpless, or had sexual contact with a person who was younger than 11 years old. People 21 years old or older can be charged with sexual abuse in the first degree if the complainant younger than 13 years old. Punishment for this crime includes a two to seven-year sentence in prison.
• Child Sexual Assault - Sexual conduct against a child is particularly heinous and is severely punished. Sexual acts involving children can be classified as class D felonies, class B felonies, and class A-II felonies. Depending on the circumstances surrounding the crime, a convicted offender could spend as little as five years in prison or serve an entire life sentence. Additionally, they must register as a known sex offender. People on the Westchester County sex offenders list often find it difficult to secure employment and rent an apartment. Because a conviction can have such lasting effects, you will need to seek the defense of an experienced sex crimes criminal defense attorney in NYC and the surrounding area.
• Child Pornography - Conviction of a sex crime involving child pornography can result in years in state prison and registration as a sex offender. It can also lead to problems involving immigration and travel, loss of professional licenses, eviction, and joblessness. Do not underestimate the severity of these charges. Having a child pornography attorney combat your case is invaluable for achieving the best possible outcome. If you are arrested or charged with a crime related to possessing, receiving, or distributing child pornography in New York, it is absolutely essential that you secure the legal representation of an experienced and knowledgeable child pornography defense attorney. Our lawyers have the experience and specialized knowledge necessary to give your case the attention and representation it deserves.

Defenses Against Sex Crime Charges

If you’ve been accused of a sex crime or face sexual misconduct charges, you must engage with a qualified New York sex crimes lawyer. An experienced attorney will know how to defend your constitutional rights and build a strong case in your favor. Our team of legal experts in White Plains, NY, will meticulously investigate and scrutinize every detail related to your case to ensure nothing is missed. Some common defense strategies our Westchester County sex crimes lawyers use include consent, mistaken identity, and, most significantly, false allegations.

Schedule a Consultation with a New York Sex Crimes Attorney Today

At Portale Randazzo LLP, we will provide the effective defense you need to combat any charges you face in White Plains, NYC, Westchester County, or the surrounding areas. Whether you need a rape defense attorney or a child pornography defense lawyer, our legal team will handle your case with the care and attention to detail it deserves. If you or a loved one have been charged with a sex crime, the time to act is now, as the consequences of being convicted of a sex crime are devastating.

Reach out to our Westchester County sex crimes lawyers today to start building your defense strategy. We can also help you or a loved one fight charges involving domestic violence. Review our client testimonials to learn more about the successes of our New York sex crimes lawyers.