If you are charged with rape or sexual assault today, you need a top-notch defense lawyer because the current political climate will often prevent you from receiving a fair trial. Although false allegations are incredibly common, juries, judges, investigators and prosecutors are brainwashed today to always believe the “victim.” Today, these cases are often the government’s highest priority with the prosecutors using their nearly unlimited amounts of money, investigators and paralegals for the sole goal of convicting you and delivering the highest possible sentence. They will pressure you on every front to plead guilty, even though you are innocent of the charges.  The reality is that a conviction of a sexual offense is a virtual life sentence, no matter how much prison time you are sentenced to.  Most of these offenses carry mandatory lifetime sex offender registration, often resulting in joblessness and homelessness.  Ramifications that were known as “civil death” in the 1800s until they were repealed as cruel and unusual punishment. This unconstitutional punishment has returned.  Your only choice is to simply fight tenaciously for your freedom. You need a lawyer who will do this every step of the way. Nathan Freeburg has defended or advised on numerous serious sexual assault cases and has won acquittal after acquittal.

Especially right now, lawyers who defend alleged sexual offenses are often attacked in the press and by politicians merely for doing their jobs. And if your defense lawyer is intimidated by this, how much worse is it for you? You need a lawyer who will stand firm against these witch hunts.

Being charged with or convicted of a sex offense in Washington, D.C. is especially serious. The D.C. laws are complex, requiring experienced, learned counsel. For example, in Washington, D.C., rape and sexual assault are combined into one broad crime of Sexual Abuse. Sexual Abuse is then divided into five degrees.

First Degree Sexual Abuse: essentially engaging in a sexual act (does not have to be penetration) by means of force or the threat of force or making the victim unconscious. This is punished by up to life in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

Second Degree Sexual Abuse: essentially engaging in a sexual act (does not have to be penetration) also by threat as well as cases where the victim was incapable of consenting or was communicating their lack of consent. This is punished by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $200,000.

Third Degree Sexual Abuse: essentially sexual touching by means of force or the threat of force or making the victim unconscious. This is punished by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

Fourth Degree Sexual Abuse: essentially sexual touching also by threat as well as cases where the victim was incapable of consenting or was communicating their lack of consent. This punished by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.

Misdemeanor Sexual Abuse: A sexual act or contact occurred and the person knew or should have known they did not have permission to do so. This is punished by up to 180 days in jail and up to a $1,000 fine for a first offense.

Allegations of child pornography (such as possession, distribution, or production) can be prosecuted in either D.C. Superior Court or federally in U.S. District Court. D.C. and federal law are similar when it comes to classifying and prosecuting child pornography (essentially defined as sexually explicit images of minors under 18 year of age). Even mere possession of one image in Washington, D.C., can lead to a prison sentence of up to ten years (or twenty in federal court)! But that’s not all. If you are convicted of any child pornography offense, you will have to register as a sex offender, likely for life. In addition, it is common for the alleged victim in the images to personally sue you for damages if you are convicted. You need a D.C. child pornography lawyer who will fight tenaciously for your freedom.

The reality is that someone accused of the possession or even the distribution of child pornography may well be innocent. As any experienced felony defense lawyer knows, sometimes the purported child pornography images are not actually child pornography (either because they are not actually sexually explicit or because they are not actually images of minors), and many times the images innocently end up on a computer or phone or tablet. For example, it is not uncommon while viewing legal adult pornography to accidentally run across an image of child pornography. It is also possible for an actual consumer of child pornography to secretly run the files through an innocent person’s computer in order to avoid detection. You need a tech-savvy defense lawyer to defend against these charges. Not only is Nathan Freeburg an experienced defense lawyer, but his computer and IT experience dates all the way back to 1981!

I can fight for you in every stage of a trial for sexual abuse, rape, sexual assault, child sexual assault or child pornography. I can be hired at any time in the process, even when you are “only” under investigation. (The advice of an experienced defense lawyer is especially critical when you are under investigation.) Sometimes it is possible to avoid the allegations against you even going to a criminal trial.

You need a fighting defense lawyer because the criminal justice system is constructed with a simple goal in mind: to convict you and deliver the highest possible sentence. You will be pressured on every front to plead guilty, even though you are innocent of the charges. Occasionally, as a last resort, a plea deal of some sort is in your best interest; but only after an aggressive and accomplished lawyer has developed the leverage over the prosecution to get you the best deal possible. Often, you should simply fight tenaciously for your freedom. You need a lawyer who will do this every step of the way in a case involving sexual abuse in Washington, D.C.