Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney Blog
Controversial Jacksonville preacher, Kenneth Adkins, has been sentenced after being found guilty of several child sex charges in Brunswick, Georgia. According to an article on News4Jax, Adkins was sentenced to thirty-five years in prison followed by sex offender probation for his natural lifetime. Adkins was accused of having sexual contact with both a teenage girl and boy. Per the article, Adkins criminal defense attorney argued that the teenage boy was sixteen at the time of sexual contact. This is relevant because the age of consent in Georgia is sixteen.
This is in stark contrast to Florida’s age of consent. In Florida, and many other states, eighteen is the minimum age that a person can consent to sex. Consent is defined as intelligently, knowingly and voluntarily consenting to the contact and cannot be coerced. Ages of both the accused and the alleged victim are extremely important to the various sex charges in Jacksonville. For example, sexual battery, or rape, in Jacksonville is defined as oral, anal or vaginal penetration by any means without consent. If a person eighteen years of age or older commits a sexual battery on another adult, the crime is considered a second degree felony punishable by up to fifteen years in prison. If the accused is eighteen or older and the alleged victim is twelve or older and less than eighteen, the sex crime is elevated to a first degree, punishable by up to life. The same elevations apply to lewd or lascivious crimes in Florida. Lewd molestation is when someone intentionally touches, in a lewd or lascivious way, the breasts, genitals, genital area or buttocks or the clothes over them of a person under sixteen years of age. If the accused is eighteen or older and the alleged victim is less than twelve years of age, it is considered a life felony. If the accused is an adult and the alleged victim is twelve or older but less than sixteen, the level is dropped to a second degree felony.
No matter the ages, when someone is convicted of a sex crime in Florida, they are looking at being a sex offender or predator for their entire life. Restrictions will be placed on where they can live, where they can work and who they can associate with. In addition to the registration, they are subject to being on sex offender probation, which is the most stringent probation by far in our state. Sex offender probation in Florida includes intensive psychosexual counseling, periodic polygraph examinations, restrictions of where you can live, restrictions on where you work, restrictions on where you go and restrictions on being around any minors, including natural born children.
Any sex allegations or accusations can effect your entire life going forward. Even if there is no physical evidence, if the police and prosecutors believe the accuser, you will be arrested and possibly fighting for the rest of your life. It is imperative to talk to a qualified sex crime attorney as soon as possible.
If you or a loved one needs a criminal defense attorney in Jacksonville or the surrounding area, call The Mussallem Law Firm at (904) 365-5200 for a FREE CONSULTATION. Our Jacksonville Sex Attorney, Victoria “Tori” Mussallem, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.