Articles Posted in Sex Crimes

In a June 2023 case before an Arizona court of appeals, the defendant unsuccessfully appealed his conviction for sex trafficking. The defendant was charged after investigators discovered he was trafficking at least one young girl, and a jury found him guilty as charged. On appeal, the defendant argued that the trial court improperly admitted evidence relating to the typical characteristics of a pimp; the higher court, however, disagreed with the argument and kept the conviction in place.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, investigators approached a teenage girl one evening after they saw her walking up and down the street, conferring with men that were driving by. The officers noticed that she would talk to the driver, go and speak with the defendant (who was waiting nearby), then go back to the driver. When the officers approached the girl, she told them she was 16 years old and was a runaway. She also told them she was being trafficked and that the defendant was forcing her to give all of the money she earned as a prostitute to him.

The State charged the defendant with several crimes, one of which was sex trafficking. His case went to trial, and a jury unanimously found him guilty. The court sentenced him to 135 years in prison. The defendant promptly appealed.

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In a recent case before the Arizona Court of Appeals, the defendant asked the court to reconsider his guilty convictions for kidnapping and sexual assault. The original charges were based on an incident during which the defendant allegedly held his ex-girlfriend against her will and tried to sexually assault her. Claiming his innocence, the defendant went to trial, and a jury found him guilty. On appeal, the defendant argued that the trial court should have let him introduce evidence of his ex-girlfriend’s previous false accusation of rape against his brother. Ultimately agreeing with the trial court’s decision, the court of appeals denied the defendant’s appeal.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant’s ex-girlfriend was dating his brother, and the group of acquaintances all attended the same gathering one evening. The defendant was intoxicated, and he allegedly came and found his ex-girlfriend while she was asleep in one of the spare bedrooms. At that point, according to the ex-girlfriend, the defendant pushed himself on top of her, bruised her body, and tried to sexually assault her.

The woman managed to jump off the bed and run away. She raced to a neighbor’s house and asked them to call 911. Police officers quickly arrived and found the defendant hiding behind his car. They arrested him, and he was criminally charged.

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In a recent case before an appeals court in Arizona, the defendant asked for the court to reconsider a decision regarding his conviction for child molestation. Originally, the defendant was charged and convicted after he inappropriately touched a young girl. He confessed to the crime in front of several police officers, but he later claimed he lied during the confession because the police were being so aggressive. Finding no evidence that the defendant was lying, the higher court ultimately denied his appeal.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant lived with his girlfriend, his girlfriend’s daughter, and the couple’s baby son. The couple eventually broke up, and the ex-girlfriend moved out while the defendant cared for the children alone. Once, when the ex-girlfriend came to visit, she looked at the defendant’s phone and found a video of him inappropriately touching her eight-year-old daughter.

The ex-girlfriend called the police, who immediately brought the defendant in for questioning. They interrogated him, first reading him his Miranda rights then asking him about the offense in question. The defendant admitted to having inappropriately touched the girl.

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In a recent case before the Arizona Court of Appeals involving sexual assault, the defendant argued that his guilty conviction should be reversed. Originally, the defendant was charged continuous sexual abuse, child molestation, and sexual conduct with a minor. After considering the defendant’s appeal, the higher court ended up affirming the original guilty verdict.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant lived with his wife and two stepdaughters prior to the start of this case. In early 2020, one of the two minor children started acting differently, and her mother asked if anything had been bothering her. At that time, the child said that the defendant had been hurting her. The mother, concerned about the allegations, asked her older daughter whether the defendant had ever acted inappropriately or violently with her. The older daughter told her mother to call the police.

At that point, the defendant was charged with sexual abuse of a child. During trial, both children testified and described multiple specific instances during which the defendant entered their rooms at night and had sex with them. The girls detailed the defendant’s behaviors and the abuse they had endured. A pediatric nurse also testified at trial, and she stated that one of the daughters had visible injuries that likely came from a sexual assault.

The jury found the defendant guilty, and the court sentenced him to life in prison.

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Recently, an Arizona defendant originally charged with sexual assault appealed his guilty convictions and sentences in two related cases. On appeal, the Arizona Court of Appeals denied the defendant’s request and affirmed the superior court’s verdicts from 2018 and 2021. At issue on appeal was the defendant’s behavior during his two trials, and the higher court concluded that it was correct for the lower court to decide that the defendant did not have the right to be physically present for both cases’ proceedings.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant was first arrested for sexual assault in 2018. After going out to dinner with a woman, the defendant went with the woman back to her home, where he suddenly grabbed, choked, hit, and raped her. The State charged the defendant with sexual assault, aggravated assault, and threatening or intimidating. At the defendant’s trial, the defendant physically assaulted his court-appointed attorney right as the proceedings were about to begin. Immediately, law enforcement subdued the defendant, and the court declared a mistrial.

In 2021, the defendant came back to court on the original charges, but also to be tried for the physical assault of his attorney in 2018. At that time, the court communicated hesitation about letting the defendant in the courtroom for trial, both for safety reasons and because the court thought the defendant would be at an automatic disadvantage if the jury saw him acting violently.

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In a recent child pornography case coming out of an Arizona court, the defendant unsuccessfully appealed his convictions for sexual exploitation of a minor. On appeal, the defendant argued that the court admitted additional images of child pornography for which he was not charged and that these additional images unfairly biased the jury deciding his case. After considering his argument, the court rejected the appeal and affirmed the original convictions and sentences.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, investigators obtained a warrant to search the defendant’s house after they began suspecting him of dealing with child pornography. During the search, the investigators found an electronic data storage card that contained ten images of child pornography. Investigators found various other exploitive images during the search, and the defendant was indicted for ten counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

The defendant’s case went to trial, and he was found guilty. The court sentenced the defendant to prison terms totaling 102 years. He promptly appealed.

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In a recent Arizona opinion involving sexual assault, the court denied the defendant’s request to make his daughter answer questions in an interview regarding her experience as a victim of the defendant’s actions. Even though Arizona law protects sexual assault victims from having to do interviews against their will, the defendant argued that since the daughter resided in North Dakota, this law should not apply to her. The court disagreed, ruling that the daughter did not, in fact, have to answer questions if she did not want to answer them.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant was indicted in 2019 on one charge of sexual conduct with a minor under fifteen. The victim was the defendant’s daughter, who he allegedly abused from 1997 to 1999 in the state of Arizona. The case against the defendant became complicated by the fact that the defendant’s second daughter also reported that he had sexually abused her when she was living with him in North Dakota. The defendant pled guilty in North Dakota to continuous sexual abuse of his second daughter, and he was sentenced to twelve years in prison.

Meanwhile, in the case that was happening in Arizona, the defendant wanted to interview his first daughter, the one who accused him of sexual assault in North Dakota. The defendant thought that including an interview with this second daughter could somehow strengthen his case in Arizona. This daughter in North Dakota, however, declined to be interviewed. On appeal, the defendant argued that his daughter in North Dakota should have been forced to answer questions in an interview and that her refusal to interview unfairly affected his ability to put together a complete defense.

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In a recent opinion from an Arizona court involving child luring, two of the defendant’s convictions were vacated. Originally, the defendant had been convicted of three counts of luring a minor for sexual exploitation. On appeal, he argued that he did not commit three separate crimes and that his conviction should be changed to reflect the nature of his crime. The court agreed, convicting the defendant of one count (instead of three counts) of luring a minor.

Facts of the Case

The defendant in this case, a Las Vegas resident in his early sixties, placed an advertisement on a website seeking sexual encounters with women. Users of the site supposedly had to agree that they were adults, but the site did not monitor or enforce the age requirement. In an attempt to target child predators, a detective in the Sheriff’s Office responded to the defendant’s advertisement under the name “Sabrina.” The defendant and Sabrina proceeded to send over 1,300 text messages to each other throughout the course of one week. Sabrina indicated she was 13 years old, and the defendant asked if she wanted to meet in person. Over text, the defendant suggested that he and Sabrina “make love” when they meet up.

A few days later, officers arrested the defendant when he arrived at the arranged meeting spot. The defendant was carrying clothing and a purse for Sabrina, a “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” doll, and a Viagra pill. The State then charged the defendant with three counts of luring a minor under the age of 15 for sexual exploitation, as well as one count of attempted sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 15.

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In a recent opinion from an Arizona court, a defendant’s convictions and sentences were affirmed after he unsuccessfully argued that his trial was unfair and that he should receive a new verdict. Originally, the defendant was convicted after exposing his penis to a minor and involving a minor in a drug offense. In its opinion, the court disagreed that the defendant’s trial was unfair and concluded that the defendant’s verdict should be affirmed.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant is an adult male who suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS) and whose right side of the body is largely non-functional. In April 2018, the defendant had his fourteen-year-old daughter take photographs of his penis so that he could send photos to her friends and to “know what they thought of his penis” in light of the MS. A few months later, the defendant provided marijuana in a pipe to one of his daughter’s friends, a neighbor who was fourteen years old.

The defendant was convicted for three counts of indecent exposure, one count of furnishing harmful material to minors, and one count of involving a minor in a drug offense. On appeal, the defendant argued that the trial was not properly conducted and that he should thus be afforded a new verdict.

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