You can easily feel that your world has been turned upside down when you find yourself facing a sexual assault charge, especially when you know that the accusations are false.
One of the first things to do in that nightmare scenario would be to get in touch with a sex crime attorney who can help by talking through your options and set to work on clearing your name as soon as possible.
Here are some essential tips on what to do if you are facing false allegations of sexual assault.
Be careful who you contact
As already outlined, your best course of action is usually to seek out professional legal help as this sort of accusation requires the right person to defend your position and tell you what to do and what not to do.
One of the first things your lawyer will quickly tell you is that you have to exercise extreme caution about who you talk to as you don’t want to prejudice your case in any way.
This advice is particularly relevant when it comes to having any contact with the complainant.
It is often the case that the accused and complainant will know each other in some capacity. Regardless of how well you know the person and in what capacity, be it professional or personal, you should resist the urge to make contact or enter into any sort of dialogue.
Any contact could easily be interpreted as an attempt to coerce the person into withdrawing their allegation, even if that is clearly not your intention.
The bottom line is that the best person to talk to is your appointed lawyer. They can handle communication on your behalf and ensure that you don’t prejudice your case in any way.
Make sure you keep any evidence
The emotional turmoil that you can experience when falsely accused of sexual assault can easily cloud your thinking but it is important that you try to keep a clear head and work on preserving any evidence you have that helps to prove your innocence.
If you have any text messages or emails that were sent by the complainant, for example, make sure you keep them. They could prove vital when it comes to the issue of consent. This is a key aspect of sexual assault cases and any sort of evidence you have could prove pivotal.
It is worth remembering that a large percentage of sexual assault cases tend not to involve any witnesses. This makes it even more essential that you preserve any physical evidence that you have.
If there are any witnesses that can corroborate your version of events don’t get in touch with them directly. Instead, provide this information to your lawyer so that they can make an approach for a statement on your behalf.
You may wonder why you need to go through the expense of using a sex crime lawyer when you know that you have done nothing wrong.
Unfortunately, this is such a serious charge that could even threaten your liberty as well as your reputation you really do need their experience and know-how to bring the matter to a swift close so that you can get on with your life.
