Sex Offenses
Texas law recognizes a wide range of sex offenses. While the severity of different sexual offenses greatly varies, even a low-level sex crime conviction can land you on the National Sex Offender Registry. Sex offender registration can have an extreme impact on your life, including limiting where you can live and work. Some people who are convicted of sex crimes will have to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives.
If the district attorney’s office has issued criminal charges against you for a sex offense in Lubbock County or the surrounding areas, don’t wait to find a criminal lawyer. You need an experienced defense attorney on your side who has extensive experience fighting for their clients’ freedoms. Contact me today to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case as soon as possible.
Types of Sex Offenses
Along with prostitution, Texas criminal law includes four basic categories of sex offenses:
Each of these categories includes a number of different crimes that account for the varying severity of these types of offenses, allowing police officers to arrest people for an array of criminal behaviors.
Sex Offenses Involving Nonconsensual Sexual Contact
The Texas statutes that cover the criminal offenses involving nonconsensual sexual conduct do not use the words “rape” or “statutory rape”. Instead, rapes are referred to as “sexual assaults”.
Texas sex offenses involving nonconsensual sexual contact include:
Relevant Statutes:
Texas Penal Code §22.011— Sexual Assault
Texas Penal Code §22.021— Aggravated Sexual Assault
Texas Penal Code § 22.012— Indecent Assault
Texas Penal Code § 21.18— Sexual Coercion
Sex Offenses Involving Invasion of Privacy
Relevant Statutes:
Texas Penal Code §21.15— Invasive Visual Recording
Texas Penal Code § 21.16— Unlawful Disclosure or Promotion of Intimate Visual Material
Texas Penal Code § 21.17— Voyeurism
Texas Penal Code § 21.19— Unlawful Electronic Transmission of Sexually Explicit Visual Material
Sex Offenses Involving Children
*Does not only apply to children
Relevant Statutes:
Texas Penal Code § 21.02— Continuous Sexual Abuse of Young Child or Children
Texas Penal Code § 21.11— Indecency With a Child
Texas Penal Code § 21.12— Improper Relationship Between Educator and Student
Texas Penal Code §43.24— Sale, Distribution, or Display of Harmful Material to Minor
Texas Penal Code § 43.25— Sexual Performance by a Child
Texas Penal Code § 43.251— Employment Harmful to Children
Texas Penal Code §43.26— Possession or Promotion of Child Pornography
Texas Penal Code § 43.261— Electronic Transmission of Certain Visual Material Depicting Minor
Texas Penal Code § 43.262— Possession or Promotion of Lewd Visual Material Depicting Child
Sex Offenses Involving Obscenity, Lewdness, and Exposure
Relevant Statutes:
Texas Penal Code § 21.07 — Public Lewdness
Texas Penal Code § 21.08 — Indecent Exposure
Texas Penal Code §43.22 — Obscene Display or Distribution
Texas Penal Code § 43.23 — Obscenity
