Indecency with a child

Criminal Defense

These cases are built on interviews, and interviews can be examined.

An investigation usually begins with an outcry to a parent, teacher or counsellor, followed by a forensic interview at a children's advocacy centre. That interview is recorded, and how it was conducted matters enormously: whether questions were open or leading, whether the child had already been questioned repeatedly at home, whether details appeared for the first time after adult contact, and whether the interviewer followed their own protocol. Reviewing the recording rather than the summary is basic and it is frequently where a defence begins.

The context these allegations arise in

• Contested custody and divorce proceedings, where the timing of the allegation is itself evidence.
• Blended households and extended families under strain.
• Innocent conduct — bathing, medical care, sleeping arrangements, ordinary affection — reinterpreted after the fact by an adult with a reason to reinterpret it.
• Misidentification, particularly where several adults had access to the child.
• Digital evidence attributed to a shared device or network rather than to a person.

What these allegations usually involve

• Alleged inappropriate touching, frequently described differently at each retelling.
• Claims resting solely on statements, with no physical or medical evidence.
• Misinterpretation of accidental or non-sexual contact — bathing, medical care, sleeping arrangements, ordinary affection.
• Digital material attributed to a person rather than to a shared device or account.

How the defence is built

By challenging statements that are unreliable or were produced by suggestive or repeated questioning. By exposing inconsistencies across the accounts and, where the facts support it, the reason a false allegation was made. By obtaining independent expert review of any medical findings and of the interview methodology. And by preparing the case for trial from the beginning — which is also what creates the position from which to negotiate with a prosecutor, where negotiating is the right call.

What is at stake

A conviction can mean years or decades in prison, and registration brings lasting restrictions on where a person may live, what work they can do and where they can travel. Indecency with a child is a felony, and depending on the subsection it carries substantial prison exposure and sex offender registration. Registration determines where someone can live, what work they can do and what supervision they live under, often for life. The offence of conviction controls that, which is why the charge itself — not just the sentence — is the thing to fight over.

How we work these cases

Confidentially and thoroughly: obtaining the complete forensic interview and any prior interviews, the CPS file, medical examination records and the underlying notes rather than conclusions, device forensics performed independently, and expert review of interview methodology and any medical findings. Where a polygraph or psychosexual evaluation would help, it is done under privilege and only when we control the result.

What to do right now

Common questions