Being falsely accused of sexual assault is an incredibly difficult thing to go through. You will have to deal with being arrested and charged, and then go through the court process. Being charged with sexual assault is very serious-- you will need to be proactive and prepared in order to fight the false charges. In the event that you are falsely accused of sexual assault, take the following steps:
Hire an Experienced Attorney
Since being charged with sexual assault is so serious, you need to hire an experienced criminal defense attorney. Ideally, you should look for a criminal defense attorney who specializes in sex crimes or is very experienced in handling sex crime cases. If you are convicted of a sexual assault charge, you can face prison time as well as a number of long-lasting ramifications -- immediately hiring an attorney when you're falsely accused of sexual assault is your best chance of being acquitted.
Don't Incriminate Yourself
After being charged with sexual assault, do not speak to anyone about the incident unless your attorney is present. Even if the accusations are false, your words can be twisted around to make you look guilty. Always remember that you are not required to talk to anyone without an attorney present, so if anyone tries to question you, ask them to contact your attorney.
Do Not Contact Alleged Victim
When you know that you have been falsely accused of sexual assault, it can be tempting to contact the alleged victim to ask him or her to be honest about the situation so the charges can be dropped. Doing this is never in your best interest. In some cases, you can get into additional legal trouble if you contact the alleged victim. You need to rely on your attorney to contact the alleged victim if there is a good reason to do so.
Document Details
As soon as you have been charged with sexual assault, begin documenting all of the details that you can remember about your last contact with the alleged victim. It can be helpful to create a timeline and then fill in the details about what happened. If there were any witnesses, write down their contact information and give it to your attorney. They can contact witnesses as they prepare your defense.
Don't Give Up
It can be easy to feel incredibly frustrated and hopeless when you are falsely accused of a sex crime. However, you have to work hard to fight the charges and keep your head up. An experienced criminal defense attorney will be able to compile a strong defense on your behalf that includes evidence showing that the sexual assault did not happen.
