Los Angeles Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

A Los Angeles Police Department memo recently obtained by the Los Angeles Times criticizes a man who says he was kidnapped, assaulted and robbed by members of the Main Street Crips gang after he claimed to have a sex tape of Shaquille O'Neal, the newspaper reports.

A Los Angeles Criminal Defense Lawyer is necessary for crimes of this magnitude because they involve serious time in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's many prisons. Every defendant has a right to have an advocate by their side in order to get legal help in situations like this.

Cases involving kidnapping in Los Angeles are especially important because they can involve a possible life sentence.

According to California Penal Code 207, kidnapping is punishable by up to 8 years or 11 if the victim is under 14. If there is a ransom involved, according to California Penal Code 209, the person can be sent to prison for life.

In this case, a man says he was victimized after word got out that he had a sex tape of Shaquille O'Neal, the recently retired NBA center who played for the Lakers from 1996 to 2004. The Los Angeles Times reports that seven gang members face charges in Los Angeles County Superior Court in connection with the alleged crimes.

According to the memo, LAPD detectives question the kidnapping, saying the man appears to have a "personal vendetta" against gang members. The man worked as an informant for a federal task force that was targeting the gang around 2006, though the memo says he was an "undesirable informant."

The memo says the alleged victim lost credibility when he said the whole incident was orchestrated by O'Neal, who faces no charges in connection with the case. Detectives believe the man was trying to extort O'Neal.

A memo by police criticizing an alleged victim seems to be a good sign for the defendants and certainly a good sign for O'Neal. There are many times when people make up stories to try to get someone in trouble. An alleged victim's credibility often can be challenged and should be challenged as frequently and fervently as witnesses and the police.

There are different forms of kidnapping and various defenses that can be applied, depending on the facts of the case.

Kidnapping Defenses:

• Insufficient Evidence
• Mistaken Identity
• Lack of Physical Evidence
• Showing a person is legally entrusted with the custody of the kidnapped person
• Proving parents separated without a legal decree, therefore one may take a child from the other without committing kidnapping

But some of these defenses require real work, by lawyers who must be committed to the case. This requires the resources, experience and aggressiveness to advocate for clients, regardless of the circumstances. Every client should be treated as innocent until proven guilty, which is what the law says.

Continue reading "Alleged Los Angeles Kidnapping Victim Connected to Former Lakers Star Shaquille O'Neal Criticized by LAPD" »

Four men are facing federal kidnapping charges in Los Angeles after authorities allege the defendants engaged in a bizarre plot to kidnap an L.A. businessman, FOX News reports.

A Los Angeles federal criminal defense lawyer should always be hired to defend clients facing charges lodged by the federal government. The laws and rules of federal court are different than those of state courts and require specific knowledge, training and experience. In this case, the charges are very serious because the defendant's allegedly planned to commit the crime for $5 million in ransom.

The men, ages 35 to 70, are from Austria, Hungry and Arizona. They are charged in a federal indictment with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by threats and violence, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

One of the defendants is also charged with being a felon alien in possession of guns and ammunition; transfer of a gun for use in a crime of violence; and being in the United States illegally following deportation.

The men allegedly planned to kidnap the owner of a medical marijuana dispensary and several Los Angeles jewelry stores in order to obtain access to a safe in his home which they believed contained $5 million in cash and jewelry.

If convicted, the defendants face prison sentences ranging from 20 to 60 years.

Continue reading "Men facing federal charges in Los Angeles for allegedly plotting to kidnap jewelry store owner for ransom" »

In California, Megan's Law "requires convicted sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agency," explains Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez. Megan's Law also "makes it possible for people to get information about the identity and address of registered sex offenders," the experienced lawyer noted. As an aid to concerned parents and California citizens, Rodriguez provides a link to both California's and national registered sex offender databases on his website.

Megan's Laws have been initiated in all 50 states. Created in response to the brutal rape and murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka by a neighbor who was a convicted child molester, many feel Megan's Law has been instrumental in protecting children from sexual predators and in finding those who commit sexual offenses against children. So why didn't Megan's Law help Jaycee Lee Dugard sooner?

Kidnapped at the age of 11, Jaycee was raped and kept confined in a rustic backyard compound for 18 years by Phillip Garrido (see our Sep. 23 post). Garrido, who served 10 years in prison for a 1970s kidnapping and rape, was registered on California's sex offender registry. Even while keeping Jaycee captive, Garrido checked in with local authorities as required by California law and reported to a parole officer for the 1970's rape.

While citizens believe that registration means sex offenders are well monitored by police, the reality is that law enforcement resources are seriously overwhelmed. In Contra Costa County where Garrido resided there are 1,700 registered sex offenders and more than 65,000 registered throughout California. Registered sex offenders include both people arrested for the most heinous sexual crimes against children and those arrested for minor crimes like exposure, making it difficult to distinguish the degree of risk posed by an individual.

Many question whether Megan's Law actually deters sexual predation against children. As recently pointed out by an intriguing New York Times article on the limitations of sex offender registries, it may simply be forcing predators like Garrido to relocate in rural areas where their activities are less visible.

For more information on Megan's Law, links to sex offender registries and tips for protecting your children, visit L.A. attorney Stephen Rodriguez' Megan's Law website.

-

The discovery of Jaycee Lee Dugard living in makeshift tents behind a home in Antioch, California 18 years after her abduction shocked the country. Snatched from a school bus stop near her South Lake Tahoe, CA home in 1991 when she was 11, Dugard had been held in isolation by a convicted sex offender who fathered two children with her, one when she was only 14. Phillip Garrido and his wife, Nancy, were arrested. Garrido, charged with kidnapping, raping and imprisoning Dugard, is now suspected in the kidnapping and disappearance of two California 13-year-olds in the late 1980s.

With a twisted history of sexual abuse and drug use, Garrido became fanatical about religion in the 1970s. Imprisoned in 1977 for kidnapping and repeatedly raping a Reno, Nevada woman, he told a police psychiatrist, "I have been brought to God." It was his religious fervor that eventually led to Dugard's discovery and rescue and Garrido's arrest. His odd behavior while seeking a permit to hold a religious rally at UC-Berkley made officials suspicious, triggering events that led to his arrest.

Child molesters often turn to religion to rationalize their actions, Ken Lanning, a former FBI profiler specializing in kidnapping and child abuse cases, told the Associated Press. "A lot of them, when they're molesting children, put a lot of time and energy into trying to convince themselves that they're not bad people," Lanning said. "In some cases, the element of religion will come into it, and they will use varying aspect of their religious belief to justify all of this."

In conversations with neighbors and business clients and in police interviews before his arrest, Garrido repeatedly talked about finding God. The Reno woman he raped in 1977 said he preached about God and Jesus while he was raping her.

On Friday: Why Megan's Law didn't help Jaycee Dugard sooner.

Home invasion, robbery, kidnapping -- the horrific story playing out in San Bernardino, California, 60 miles east of Los Angeles, has authorities asking the public for help. Between San Bernardino County and the FBI, a $50,000 reward is now being offered for information in the violent kidnapping of 3-year-old Briant Rodriguez.

Armed Hispanic gunmen kidnapped the boy during a 20-minute armed invasion of the Rodriguez home in which they ransacked the house, stole money and property, and terrorized Briant, four of his siblings and the children's mother, Maria Millan. The gunmen tied up Millan and the other children before taking Briant away. His mother said the gunmen threatened to kill her son, but no ransom demands have yet been received. No motive is known for the kidnapping, although police are exploring a potential tie to Mexican organized crime.

Violent kidnappings like that of the Rodriguez child are rare, law enforcement officers report. Most kidnappings involving children stem from divorce and child custody issues. "Every year over 200,000 children are taken by a family member, usually a parent without legal custody," said expert Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez (no relation to the kidnapped boy). Called parental kidnapping, taking your child in violation of custody orders is a serious crime in California. "Any person who does not have the right to custody and maliciously takes or conceals any minor child with the intent to detain or conceal the child from a person having legal custody, if convicted, could spend time in jail and even state prison," Rodriguez warns.

In the state of California, kidnapping of minors under the age of 14 is punishable by up to 11 years in state prison. When kidnapping is committed for ransom or robbery, it is called aggravated kidnapping and is punishable by life in prison without the possibility of parole. If the victim suffers bodily harm or is killed, the perpetrators will spend the rest of their lives in prison without any chance of parole. Because kidnapping is a Three Strikes crime in California, felony conviction can result in onerous doubled and life sentences.

If you are charged with parental kidnapping, it is critical that you immediately contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer to protect your rights. Many defenses are possible, including consent and lack of intent. The experienced criminal defense attorneys at Rodriguez, Lewis & Kahn can advise you of your rights and prepare an aggressive defense to protect them.

In a case that defies understanding, 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby was charged yesterday with the kidnapping, rape and murder of her daughter's 8-year-old playmate. Sandra Cantu's body was found stuffed in a suitcase and dumped in a pond not far from her Stockton, California home. The suitcase has been identified as belonging to Huckaby. Huckaby, a Sunday school teacher and granddaughter of a local Baptist minister, cried as the judge read the charges. If convicted of all counts, Huckaby could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Members of this small northern California community are shocked. While Huckaby has not yet entered a plea, she told a reporter the suitcase in which Cantu was found is hers, although she said the suitcase had been stolen the day before Cantu disappeared. Huckaby was arrested hours after that interview. Cantu was last seen on a surveillance camera video playing outside the mobile home park where her family lived just five doors from the mobile home Huckaby and her daughter share with her grandparents. A 10-day search for the girl ended on April 6 when farm workers found the suitcase containing Cantu's body in an irrigation pond.

Huckaby's family described her to the press as a loving mother with a strong religious background and seemed particularly distressed by reports that Cantu was raped with a foreign object. Tragically, it is doubtful that Megan's Law could have helped prevent the rape and murder of little Sandra Cantu. Megan's Law "requires convicted sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agency," explained expert Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez. Huckaby has no known prior record of sexual predation and was not required to register as a sexual offender.

The Cantu case points out one of the major problems with Megan's Law. The law helps parents keep their children safe only from known and registered sex offenders. There is no protection against first-time or undiscovered sexual predators until after they have harmed a child and been convicted of the crime. In California, convicted sex offenders must register with law enforcement agencies within 5 days of being released from prison and any time they change their address or name. They are also required to update registration information every year, defense attorney Rodriguez noted, adding that the most violent predators may be required to update their information more frequently.

As a service to the public, the law offices of experienced Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers Rodriguez, Lewis & Kahn maintain a helpful Megan's Law webpage with useful information about Megan's Law and helpful links to registered sex offender databases in California and throughout the U.S.

A new federally-funded study on sex offenses concludes that Megan's Law hasn't deterred repeat sexual offenders and that costs associated with implementing the law may not be justified. Conducted in New Jersey, the state that initiated the now nationwide Megan's Law campaign, the study found that while Megan's Law has made it easier to find sex offenders, it hasn't changed the types of sex crimes committed or decreased the number of victims.

Named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl raped and murdered in 1994 by a neighbor who had twice been convicted of sexual offenses, Megan's Laws have been enacted in all 50 states. California's Megan's Law "requires convicted sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agency, and makes it possible for people to get information about the identity and address of registered sex offenders," explains expert Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez. As an aid to Los Angeles and California residents, Rodriguez has created a Megan's Law website with links to California's registered sex offender database, links to Megan's Law data bases in other states, useful information about how sexual offenses are prosecuted in California, and valuable tips on protecting your children from sexual predators.

Conducted by the New Jersey Department of Corrections with Rutgers University, the new study used statistical data to evaluate the effect of Megan's law on state crime rates. The study found that while New Jersey spent approximately half a million dollars implementing Megan's Law in 1995, annual costs had climbed to $4 million by 2007. Given the high costs of implementation and negligible effect as a deterrent, some budget-strapped states are taking a closer look at the value of Megan's Law.

However, Megan's mother, Maureen Kanka, told Associated Press reporter Beth DeFalco that Megan's Law was never intended to change sexual predator behavior. "It was to provide an awareness to the public, which it has done." Kanka contends that making parents aware of sexual predators in their midst enables them to better protect their children. Study author, Kristen Zgoba, a research supervisor for the New Jersey Corrections Department, disagreed, telling DeFalco that awareness does not increase safety. "There's no other way to increase safety other than to decrease the likelihood of these crimes taking place."

The study concluded that while registration and notification programs can be helpful, rehabilitation programs for offenders or programs that remove them from the population are more productive. New Jersey's aggressive civil commitment of repeat sex offenders may be more responsible than Megan's Law for the state's sex crimes reduction over the last decade.

Megan's Law was created in the face of tragedy after 7-year-old Megan Kanka of New Jersey was brutally raped and killed by a neighbor who was a known child molester. Megan's parents had no knowledge of the man's background and no reason to be on the alert or warn their daughter -- until it was too late. Devastated by what had happened to their child, the Kanka's lobbied tirelessly to give other parents the tools to protect their children from sexual predators.

Megan's Law requires convicted sex offenders to register with law enforcement agencies. It also makes it possible for the public to obtain information about the identities and addresses of registered sex offenders. But parents must be ever vigilante. More than 90% of children are molested by someone they know.

Today, we offer additional tips for keeping your children safe.

• Never leave children unattended in an automobile, not even to run in and out of a store.


• Teach your children never to talk to anyone in a car or accept a ride from anyone they don't know and trust.


• Teach your children never to go anywhere with anyone without getting your permission first.


• Be an active participant in your children's activities.


• Listen to your children. Pay attention if your child doesn't want to be with someone or go somewhere.


• Notice people who pay too much attention to your child.


• Teach your children that they always have the right to say no to unwelcome, uncomfortable or confusing touching or actions by others, including adults. Teach them to tell you immediately if this happens and take their fears seriously.


• Be sensitive to changes in your child's behavior or attitude.


• When your children confide in you, remain calm and try not to criticize or judge. Help your children solve the problem.


• Carefully screen babysitters and caregivers.


• Don't allow your children to wear clothing or carry items displaying their name. Predators can use your child's name to create a false impression of familiarity and engage your child in conversation.

You can find more information about Megan's Law and links to state and national sexual predator locators on the California Attorney General's Megan's Law website. As an aide to parents and the public, Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez has also created a special Megan's Law website containing valuable information about Megan's Law and useful links to additional registered sex offender resources.

To protect our children from the violence of sexual predators, every state in the U. S. now has a Megan's Law in place, including California. California's Megan's Law requires convicted sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agency. The law also makes it possible for the public to obtain the identity and addresses of registered sex offenders. Most states track the locations of registered sex offenders on easily accessible Internet websites. California's sex offender registry is managed by the office of the state's Attorney General.

Proactive in its efforts to halt sexual predators from preying on children, California has required sex offenders to register with local law enforcement offices for 50 years, but it was not until the enaction of Megan's Law that the information was readily available to the public. Unfortunately, Megan's Law tracks only convicted sexual offenders. Parents must educate their children and maintain family vigilance to ensure their children's safety.

The California Attorney General's Megan's Law website recommends parents take the following actions to protect their children from sexual predation:

• Inform your children that it is wrong for adults to engage children in sexual activity.


• Stress to your child that he should tell you if anything happens that makes him feel uncomfortable, especially if an adult is involved.


• Get to know the people your child spends time with, particularly the parents of their friends.


• Teach your children about their bodies and the correct words to use when describing private parts. Emphasize that those parts are private.


• Know where your children are at all times. Be clear about places and homes your children are allowed to visit. Make sure your children tell you where they are going when they leave home and check in when they arrive or depart their destination and when plans change. If your child is abducted, the sooner the police are alerted, the better the chance of a positive outcome.


• Set an example for your child by always telling him when your plans change or when you are running late. Emphasize that such family rules are for everyone's safety.

For more information on Megan's Law and useful links to California, state and federal sex offender registration sites, please visit the website of Los Angeles Criminal Defense Lawyer Stephen Rodriguez.

Megan Kanka was a typical 7-year-old, full of fun and life and excitement for the surprises that came with each new day. On July 29, 1994, she spent the morning riding her bike in the summer sunshine. She was excited when her neighbor offered to show her his new puppy. A day later, New Jersey police found Megan's battered body in a nearby park. She had been raped, beaten and strangled with a belt.

Three years later, in 1997, Megan's 36-year-old neighbor Jesse Timmendequas, a previously convicted sex offender, was sentenced to death in a New Jersey courtroom. Outside the courtroom, Megan's grief-stricken parents, Richard and Maureen Kanka met the press. "He will never, ever, ever get out to harm another little girl," Megan's mother said.

From that horrible tragedy was born Megan's Law which, in California, requires convicted sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agency. The law makes it possible for citizens to obtain information about the identities and addresses of registered sex offenders through an internet database. The California Megan's Law site is administered by the Office of the Attorney General. It allows people to locate registered sex offenders by name, address, city, zip code and county. It also locates registered sex offenders who live near parks and schools.

In California, you must register as a sex offender if you are convicted of sexual battery, rape including sodomy without consent, kidnapping or assaulting a person to commit rape or certain other sexual offenses, prostitution involving a minor, sexual acts with a child under the age of 14 including sodomy, incest, possession of child pornography and indecent exposure. Offenders must register "within 5 days of being released from prison and then any time they change their address or name, explains criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez. Registrations must be updated at lease annually, more often for those considered violent predators. In California, Megan's Law also requires juveniles convicted of similar crimes to register as sex offenders. However, as Rodriguez points out, juvenile "registration information cannot be disclosed to the public unless the juvenile is a threat to the community."

For complete information about California's Megan's Law, access to the Attorney General's registered sexual offender databases, links for locating sexual predators in other states, and information on how to protect your children from sexual predators, visit criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez's Megan's Law website.

In 2007, New Jersey abolished the death penalty after a state commission ruled it "inconsistent with evolving standards of decency." Jesse Timmendequas, now 47, was one of eight men waiting on death row whose sentences were commuted by Governor Jon Corzine to life in prison without parole.

LegalPro

Some have said that like the Civil Rights movement of the last half century, the battle against homosexual prejudice will be at the center of this generation's fight for social justice. If recent events are any indication, it will be another long, hard fight.

Two men and two teens have been arrested in the San Francisco Bay area on suspicion of gang-raping a 28-year-old woman. The woman was attacked as she exited her car which bore a rainbow gay pride sticker. Her attackers taunted her for being a lesbian as they raped her. Hitting and raping the woman on the sidewalk as she got out of her car, her attackers shoved her back into the car when someone approached. They drove her to an abandoned building where they raped her repeatedly before stealing her wallet and driving away in her car. Her attackers are being held without bail on charges of gang rape, kidnapping and carjacking. Police indicated that tips from local residents led to the arrests. Police have characterized the crime as a hate crime, noting that the victim's attackers knew she lived with a female partner.

All three of the heinous crimes these men are charged with come under California's tough Three Strikes Law. Under California's Three Strikes Law, anyone convicted of two or more prior strike offenses faces a life-term sentence if convicted of a third felony, even if that felony is not a strike offense. Once convicted of a strike offense, penalties are doubled for subsequent convictions. As explained by expert criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez, "Those defendants who have been convicted of a prior strike must be sentenced to prison for twice the determinate term or twice the minimum for the indeterminate term."

In tough-on-crime California, the Three Strikes Law was instituted to keep violent repeat offenders behind bars. Strikes apply to violent and serious felonies as defined by the state's Penal Code. Strike penalties can also apply to juvenile offenders who are 16 or 17 years old at the time of the offense. Examples of strike offenses include murder, rape, mayhem (serious and deliberate injury that disfigures or disables), grand theft involving a firearm, kidnapping, carjacking with a deadly weapon, any felony involving a firearm, any felony inflicting great bodily injury and a list of other serious crimes.

For more information about California's Three Strikes Law, contact the experienced criminal defense attorneys at the law offices of Stephen Rodriguez.

In one of the heinous cases of child abuse, a Tracy, California couple has been accused of kidnapping and torturing a teen-aged boy. Frightened, dirty, disoriented and clad only in boxer shorts, the 16-year-old stumbled into a local gym begging for help, the chain used to imprison him still locked to his ankle. The boy's former guardian, a woman the boy called his "aunt," was also charged.

Caren Ramirez and the boy came to live at the northern California home of Michael Schumacher and Kelly Lau and their four young children about a year ago, Lau told authorities. In a television interview before her arrest, Lau said they struck the boy in the knees with a baseball bat to discipline him at the insistence of Ramirez. She also said Ramirez burned the boy with a hot aluminum bat and refused to let her feed him. He was often forced to watch the Schumacher family, including the young children, eat while he went hungry.

Authorities have charged the three adults with repeatedly abusing the boy with baseball bats, knives and belts. Lau and Schumacher, both in their 30s, were charged with 13 counts of torture, aggravated mayhem, false imprisonment by violence, kidnapping, child abuse and corporal injury. They remain in jail with bail set at $2.2 million apiece. Ramirez, who faces similar charges, is being held at the country jail for psychiatric evaluation. The four Schumacher children, who authorities say show no signs of abuse, have been placed with California's Child Protective Services.

Court records show that Ramirez, who is identified as a family friend, had served as the teen's legal guardian since he was removed from the home of an abusive father three years ago. Last year, Ramirez pleaded no contest to a felony charge of beating the boy and was sentenced to five years of probation.

To Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers and concerned people across the country, the facts in this child abuse case, which are still unfolding, are troubling. According to reports, the boy is highly traumatized and sometimes incoherent. The claims and counter claims being made by the adults are confusing will need to be unraveled to reveal the truth. The current status of the boy's guardianship given Ramirez's prior charge and probation will need to be uncovered. When people are charged with child abuse or domestic violence, criminal defense attorneys must first uncover the facts before they can advise their clients of their legal options.

A parental kidnapping crime took a bizarre turn of events last week when Los Angeles homicide detectives travelled to Boston to interview Clark Rockefeller about the 1985 disappearance of a San Marino couple. They called Rockefeller a "person of interest" in the 20-year-old missing persons case. Rockefeller was arrested by police and arraigned in Boston for allegedly kidnapping his 7-year-old daughter from his ex-wife. The girl was found safe and returned to her mother.

Rockefeller's arrest has sparked renewed interest in a Los Angeles cold case that involves the disappearance of John and Linda Sohus who were reported missing by relatives more than 20 years ago. According to records, the couple has never been found; however, in 1994, swimming pool excavators found a human body buried in the couple's yard. News reports did not state whether the body had ever been identified.

At the time of the Sohus' disappearance, police had wanted to interview a 20-year-old college student who was a tenant in their home, but he disappeared. The man was known to have at least one other alias and to have been in trouble with the law. Authorities believe Rockefeller was in LA in the 1980s and became interested in questioning him about the San Marino crime when his fingerprints provided a link to another California killing.

Though most parental kidnapping cases don't take such a bizarre turn, more than 200,000 children are kidnapped each year by a parent or family member. The repercussions for the child can be frightening and traumatic. Most often the non-custodial parent is accused by the custodial parent. Parental kidnapping is a serious crime that can be charged as a felony or misdemeanor, depending on the circumstances. Conviction can result in time in jail or a state prison. The specific facts and circumstances of a case can have a significant impact on the nature of the charges and likelihood of conviction and sentencing. A skilled criminal defense attorney can provide the best possible defense.

Rape and sexual offense charges are an incredibly serious matter, and law enforcement officials don't take them lightly. Take for example the drummer for the band Poison, Rikki Rocket. Rocket was accused of raping a woman at a casino in Mississippi and was arrested. However, Rocket wasn't even in the state at the time and was later acquitted of the crime. That a man not even in the state can be arrested is a sign of how serious this crime is taken.

The crime of rape (or "first-degree sexual assault" in some states) generally refers to non-consensual sexual intercourse that is committed by physical force, threat of injury, or other duress. A lack of consent can include the victim's inability to say "no" to intercourse, due to the effects of drugs or alcohol. Rape can occur when the offender and victim have a pre-existing relationship (sometimes called "date rape"), or even when the offender is the victim's spouse.

Sex crimes and sexual offenses are forms of human sexual behavior that are crimes. Someone who commits one is said to be a sex offender. Some sex crimes are crimes of violence that involve sex. Others are violations of social taboos, such as incest, sodomy, sexual violation, indecent exposure or exhibitionism.

The laws governing these terms and the accompanying penalties vary by state, and there can be local, state and/or federal charges regarding sexual offense.

One of the scary aspects of sexual crimes is that they are usually perpetrated by people known by the victim. One study showed that only 2% of women who have been raped were raped by someone they did not know, most of them were violated by a current or former partner or even a close friend. The same can hold true of sexual offense, as many children who are sexually abused are abused by family members or friends of the family, and rarely by strangers.

The oldest parental kidnapping case in the country was finally resolved a year ago. In 1993, Mary Jane Byrd fled with her 4-year-old daughter shortly after a Washington D.C. judge ordered that the girl's father be allowed visitation rights. The father, Charles Dodd, was subsequently awarded full custody of his daughter, but it took U.S. Marshalls 13 years to track her down. In 2006 they found Mary Byrd and her daughter living at the house of Byrd's mother in Delaware. Charged with parental kidnapping, Byrd faced up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine if convicted. Pleading domestic violence and fear of abuse as her reasons for disappearing with her daughter, charges denied by Dodd, Byrd was acquitted by a jury just one year ago.

Every year more than 200,000 children are taken by a family member, usually a parent without legal custody. Like Jane Byrd and her daughter, they often live under an assumed identity, moving from hotel to hotel or relative to relative. They live in constant fear of discovery. Parents may be too afraid to allow their children to go to school. The children usually live an insular life, having little or no opportunity for social contact with other children. Many parents like Jane Byrd flee what they feel is an intolerable and abusive situation, but just as often children are ripped from secure homes and another loving parent. These children are victims, pawns in a bitter struggle between their parents.

Parental kidnapping is a serious charge that can be charged as either a misdemeanor or felony depending on the circumstances of the case. Any person who does not have the right of custody and maliciously takes or conceals any minor child with the intent to detain or conceal the child from the person having legal custody can be charged with parental kidnapping. If convicted, you can spend time in jail or even state prison. Many defenses are possible, and you should consult an attorney experienced in parental kidnapping defense if you are charged.

-LegalPro