When you think of some of the worst crimes that could be committed, those that are against a child often come to mind. Most of the time, sex crimes that you hear about that are committed against a child begin when someone lures a child away from the child’s home or school. There are numerous things that are used to lure children, such as candy or other types of food, animals, and toys. Sometimes, the person might tell the child that he is going to take him or her to a favorite place or to the child’s parents. If the child is under the age of 17 and you lure a child to enter a building of any kind, a vehicle, or a location where there is no one else around, then you can be charged. The crime against the child will often determine whether you will be charged with a class E or D felony.
If a young girl is leaving school and walking home and an unknown man pulls up beside her to inform her that her parent is injured and she needs to get in the car, then that would be considered luring a child. If the child gets in the car with the man and then the man commits a sexual assault against the child, then he would be charged with luring as well as first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault against a child. You need to keep in mind that further charges can be given if the child is injured or if the child dies as a result of the crime that was committed after being lured by the person.
In most situations, children are lured by people they don’t know. The child is unaware that the person intends to commit a crime and believes that the person has good intentions.
One of the defenses that could be used if you are charged with luring a child is that you didn’t intend to commit a crime once the child was with you. However, this is sometimes hard to prove in court unless there really wasn’t a crime that was committed. You would have to demonstrate that you only wanted to talk to the child and that you were planning to let the child go after a short time.
A class E felony is punishable by up to four years in prison. A class D felony is punishable by up to seven years in prison. If there are other charges attached to these felonies, then you could spend several years in prison and face a host of fines as well. When you are released from prison or if you are released, then you will have these charges on your criminal record. You will likely have to register as a sex offender, which carries its own requirements for registering and where you can and cannot live.
You don’t have to necessarily lure a child into a vehicle or a building to be charged with this crime. You could try to lure the child onto a boat, into an airplane, or into another type of vehicle that has the means of taking the child away from a safe location.
Since you could spend several years in prison and face significant ramifications for the decisions that you make involving a child you don’t know, it’s important to seek the assistance of an attorney who can help in getting the charges reduced. The attorney can examine the evidence presented and fight to try to get details dismissed or enter details that show that you didn’t intend to commit a criminal act.
