An introduction

Allow me to make an introduction. I am Justin M. Wright, the owner/operator, and principal of Justin M. Wright and Associates. I am writing this blog for three main reasons:

1) To shamelessly plug my law firm’s website at jwightlaw.com, which is very good, and each and every person who reads this should check out.

2) To introduce you to my professional network of collegues, if their expertise is something you could have the use of, you should contact them, they are superb attorneys, and fine individuals, in their own right.

3) To give you some useful information, that you might not get elsewhere. Now on to the informative part of this evening.

                              The Hard Facts about Juvenile Sexual Assault In Ohio

From 2007 until mid 2009, I had the pleasure of practicing law in front of the Honorable Judge Hoover in the Licking County Juvenile Court, and if any of you every have some spare time, go down to Newark, Ohio, and go to a breathtaking courthouse. The Licking County Court house is a grand gesture to gothic architecture, and you cannot help but be awed, when you step inside it. However, I digress; in those two and a half years I did a fairly significant practice in front of the Judge and his two magistrate judges, and I saw a disturbing number of juvenile sex offenses. Now let’s be honest, that any number of sex crimes with juveniles are alarming, however, the number of aggressive sex crimes were just disturbing. The allegations ranged from Assault, to Gross Sexual Imposition, to Rape; I will be honest the idea of a child raping another child, is particularly disturbing and disgusting to me.

However, the responsibility of why so many charges of a sexually-related nature, are born equally from circumstance and statute.   What I mean by that, is that many of these charges came not only from juvenile's engaging in behavior that they should not have, but also from the criminal statute in ohio, that governs such behavior.  Ohio's Sexual Assault Statute, sets a bright line rule of the age of 13, and states that if a juvenile offender is over the age of 13 and has sexual contact with a child under the age of 13, that regardless of any other factors, that action is rape in Ohio.   The legislators determined that a child that is not at least 13 cannot sonsent to sex in an way, shape of form.  Further, the Legislator has essentially put the onus on the older child, and has made them responsible for making sure that the unlawful conduct does not happen.

This is a frightening scenario for parents in Ohio, and one that every parent that I have spoken to, has been unaware of.  I have had several conversations with parents in this situtation, where I had to explain that regardless of a lack of animus, that their child is considered a rapist in ohio. This is a difficult situation for anyone, but it has the additional problem of perhaps attaching a stigma to a child that has perhaps done very little wrong.  I had one child that was doing what he considered "messing around" with his friend who was 12, at the time he was 14, because the action was sexual contact, that could have been charged as rape by a prosecuting attorney in Ohio.

My words of advice here to parents, is that you must be aware of this law, and you must educate your children as they enter that time in their lives.  This is one instance that not knowing and understanding the law, can have absolutely devastating consequences to everyone involved.

If you have any questions on Juvenile Sexual Assault or any other legal matters, feel free to email me at justinwright@jwrightlaw.com, or simply log on to jwrightlaw.com, and schedule a no fee consultation to discuss your case at length.

Thanks for your time, and I hope you check me out next week, where Attorney Joel Henry Mansfield, will be guest blogging.

---Justin M. Wright, Esq.