A new bill that has just been passed by the California Senate would increase prison time for sex offenders and extend parole terms for certain kinds of offenders.  The bill, Chelsea’s Law, will now head to the California Assembly and if it passes, will end up on the desk of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign into law.

Chelsea’s Law is named after 17-year-old Chelsea King, who was raped and murdered while jogging in a suburban San Diego park.  The murderer was John Gardner, a registered sex offender who pleaded guilty to Chelsea’s death.  Chelsea’s Law has several provisions that should alarm California criminal defense lawyers.  For instance, it provides a one strike sentence without parole, and lifetime parole for sex offenders who have committed crimes against children below the age of 14.  The crimes that are included under the provisions of Chelsea’s Law include rape, lewd and lascivious acts on a minor, first-degree burglary that resulted in great bodily injury, and sexual abuse of a child committed during a kidnapping.

Offenders convicted of sex crimes on children below the age of 14 would be given lifetime parole, and placed under GPS supervision with no possibility of discharge.  That’s not all. Under the law, any registered sex offender who commits a felony offense and enters any park where children gather frequently without obtaining written permission of a park official or a parole officer, would be charged with a misdemeanor.  The law also calls for revision of California’s laws governing the treatment and management of mentally disordered sex offenders, to continue detention of such offenders.

The problem that California criminal defense attorneys have with Chelsea’s Law is that it aims to provide a one-stop solution to deal with sex offenders.  Some of the provisions will do nothing more than drive sex offenders to the fringes, instead of giving them access to the treatment and counseling they require.  Besides the cost of maintaining a system like this will be exorbitant.

A court in Philadelphia has held that a school girl, whose sexually explicit images were found on a cell phone, cannot be forced to face charges of child pornography. It has been one of the more interesting cases featuring overly aggressive prosecutors and the defense of civil liberties.

The entire controversy began when school officials at a school in Pennsylvania found a few nude and semi-nude images of some schoolgirls on other students’ cell phones. Some of the girls were barely 12 or 13 at the time. The officials confiscated the phones, and brought in the Wyoming County District Attorney’s Office. The DA said that the girls could be prosecuted for possession of, or distribution of child pornography. The students were given a choice – they could either participate in an afterschool education program, failing which the students would be prosecuted for pornography charges.

Not willing to be coerced in this manner, the students refused to take the afterschool education program which would have included a report by the students, outlining why their behavior was wrong. The families said that the DA’s conditions amounted to interfering with the parents’ rights to bring up their children as they wished, and the girls’ right to be photographed in whatever manner they wished.

The standoff between the students and the parents on the one side, and the district attorney’s office on the other, went to court in March last year. The District Court barred the district attorney from initiating any criminal proceedings against the girls. The court declared that the pictures did not constitute child pornography under Pennsylvania laws, and were protected under the First Amendment

The DA appealed. Now, the Third Circuit court in Philadelphia has also upheld the District Court’s judgment.  However, the question of whether the pictures were protected under the First Amendment still continues to remain unresolved.

To a person looking at this case, it would seem that the crime rate in Wyoming County is exceedingly low, leaving the DA’s office free to spend valuable time and resources in going after a bunch of schoolgirls. To a California criminal defense attorney, however, it’s further proof that prosecutors are often driven by their own personal quirks, than any reverence for the law.

Nicole Howell’s worst nightmare came true when she was accused of having sex with one of her students.  The finger was pointed at her by one of her own.  A 16 year old male student of hers that claimed Nicole had sex with him.  Her world was turned upside down as she defended herself from the allegations.  If she lost, she would face serious jail time and would have to register as a sex offender.  Her life would never be the same.

Nicoles’ case had a somewhat happy ending.  She was acquitted of the charges but she is still picking up the pieces of her life.  She was fired from her job and has started working at a local bank.  Today she appeared on the Bill O’reilly show and spoke of the relief she felt that the ordeal was over.  Her defense attorney was beside her and described a very one sided case victory that left no doubt of his clients innocence.

Being accused of child molestation can ruin a person’s life.  No one knows the intentions of the accuser.  Maybe he did it to be cool or maybe he’s just a bad kid.  This scene is not as uncommon as it ought to be.  Some children falsely accuse their own parents of child molestation or child rape.  Even if the charges or dropped, the damage is often already done.

Sex crimes are unique types of cases because they involve a crime against an individual’s body.  Unlike many other types of criminal cases, sex crimes are not monetary crimes and do not involve a person’s property.  In sex crimes cases, we are often dealing with a crime of power that can potentially create lasting psychological damage.  The common perception is that in a sex crimes case, the alleged victim has been robbed of something intangible and valuable by the accused.

We can all sympathize with a victim of rape but what about a person who is falsely accused of it?  What crime has been committed against them?  It can be argued that this accused individual is having the same type of intangible freedoms and power taken away.  A person accused of a crime he or she didn’t commit, especially a sex crime, will undoubtedly ruin his or her reputation in the community.  Even if he or she is later absolved of the crime, the damage is already done.  The media coverage is always more intense over the alleged crime than the actual dismissal of that crime.

There are many different types of sex crimes that people can be accused of including: rape, molestation and child pornography, just to name a few.  With the proliferation of the Internet over the past decade an entire new set of sex crimes has been introduced to society.  These crimes are real and are punished just as severely as other types of sex crimes.

Date rape is a form of rape that happens between two individuals that already know each other.  In the cases where a false claim of rape is alleged one of several things tends to happen: (1) Alcohol is usually involved.  In these cases a person’s judgment may be impaired and they may consent to a sexual act that they later regret.  (2) A parent may find out about the sexual activity that occurred and become adamant that his or her child must report the act to law enforcement.  Therefore, in some cases involving consensual sex, a man may be accused of date rape when no crime actually occurred.

“Sexting” has become one of many technology-based crimes.  “Sexting” is sending pornographic material through cell phones.  It could be text messages with strong sexual language or pictures with pornographic content.  The cell phones have made connecting with each other very easy and it has also made the jump from a state to a federal crime even easier.  For example, if someone sends you a picture of a naked girl under the age of 18 and you forward that on to a friend in another state, you’ve just committed a federal crime.   This may have been done innocently and without the knowledge that the girl was a minor but your freedom could still be in jeopardy.

Child pornography is an emotionally and morally charged topic which stirs up lots of heated emotions in the community where it is alleged to have occurred.   A person arrested for child porn is likely to have his or her reputation damaged for life. There are many cases where a person may unknowingly download a picture that would be considered child pornography.  The picture may have been mislabeled or was sent to them through a spamming website.  If a person is caught with these pictures on their hard drive it may put them in jeopardy of defending the downloaded content in court.

Chat rooms are also popular places where child pornography crimes may occur.  Although chat rooms may have been designed primarily for men to meet women in some cases these women are not of legal age (under 18).  If a man is caught chatting, in a sexually-explicit manner, with a girl that is under age, he may be charged with a crime.  The “I didn’t know she wasn’t 18” defense may not be enough to keep you out of trouble.

The Internet has given rise to many more forms of child pornography including peer-to-peer sharing, morphed images, and online police sting operations.  There are law enforcement agencies that pose as minors to try and lure men to chat with them.  If you have seen the popular show, “To Catch a Predator”, you have an idea of what is going on.  Therefore, being in the wrong place at the wrong time could get you into hot water with the law.

Sexual crimes are serious offenses.  Women, children, and every other citizen, deserves to have their body protected but these same people also deserve to have their reputation and their freedom remain unmarred by false allegations of sex crimes. We are all innocent until proven guilty.   And this is important to remember, because one day you could be on the wrong end of a text message, or a cyberchat, that you never asked for, or intended, to receive.

The Internet has opened us up to a world of information, videos, and social networking.  It has created a positive effect on most of our lives and allowed us to do things we never thought possible.   The feeling of anonymity is strong but false.  Even though “big brother” is probably not watching, he can find out what you’ve been up to after the fact.  Protect yourself by using the Internet responsibly so you can rest assured that Chris Hansen will not be knocking on your door anytime soon.

Visit the website of Los Angeles Defense Attorneys, White Goldstein

Today’s technology has given us some of the greatest invention of our time.  We have advanced more as a society in the past 20 years than we have the previous 2,ooo years.  With all of this new found technology it has brought some new problems that we have never had to think about or deal with before.  The Internet, cell phones and digital cameras provide us with instantaneous information, communication and documentation.  It has also brought along with it, a new breed of issues that many people don’t yet realize.

“Sexting” is fast becoming a teenager’s mode of communication.  “Sexting” is when you text sexual content or pictures to another person.  It may seem fun and innocent at the time but in the digital age, once it’s out there, it’s there to stay.  It may be embarrassing if you’re a 16 year old boy how gets caught with pictures of your 16 year old girlfriend’s “exotic” pictures on your phone but, it may be a criminal charge for someone else.  If you’re 18, and a 16 year old sends you a naked picture of themselves, you could be convicted of a crime.  If you forward that picture to a friend of yours in another state, you could be committing a Federal Crime.

Technology has made things easier and faster.  You can call someone from anywhere at anytime and you can commit a sex crime from your living room couch with no one else in the room.  You need to be smart about the way you use technology.  The wrong picture could be used to embarrass you one day or even put you in jail.  So use your camera phones wisely and if you’re friends don’t, be sure to delete their mistakes for them.

For more information on this subject visit this online article sex crimes.