Legal Defense for Serious Sexual Offenses in West Michigan
Sexual Offenses At a Glance
Sexual offense allegations are among the most frightening charges a person can face. Accusations alone can damage reputations, strain families, and jeopardize careers before any facts are proven. Many people feel overwhelmed, ashamed, or isolated the moment they learn they are under investigation.
These cases are serious because the consequences can be life-altering. Convictions may carry prison time, sex offender registration, restrictions on housing and employment, and lasting social stigma. Even false or exaggerated claims can move quickly through the system and place immense pressure on the accused.
Early legal defense is critical in sexual offense cases. Evidence often involves statements, digital records, and credibility assessments that must be challenged immediately. Having experienced representation from the start helps protect your rights, control the narrative, and ensure your side of the story is fully and fairly heard.
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Understanding Sexual Offense Allegations in Michigan
Sexual offense allegations in Michigan can arise from a wide range of situations, including dating relationships, family disputes, workplace interactions, or misunderstandings involving consent. Many cases begin with an accusation rather than physical evidence, and people are often shocked to find themselves under investigation without ever being arrested. The uncertainty alone can be terrifying.
These allegations are taken extremely seriously by law enforcement and prosecutors. Penalties may include prison time, lifetime sex offender registration, and restrictions that affect where you can live, work, and travel. Even before a case reaches court, the emotional toll—fear, shame, stress, and damage to personal relationships—can be overwhelming.
Early legal representation is essential because sexual offense cases depend heavily on credibility, statements, and digital evidence. What you say, who you speak to, and how evidence is preserved can shape the entire outcome. An experienced defense attorney can protect your rights, guide you through the process, and help you regain a sense of control during one of the most difficult moments of your life.
For in-depth information, review the specific offense pages below to understand how Michigan law applies to your situation and what legal defense options may be available.
Sex Crime Courts and Jurisdictions We Serve:
We proudly serve the counties of Allegan, Kent, and Ottawa, with a special focus on the cities of Allegan, Holland, Grand Haven, Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Grandville and all points in between.
Comprehensive Michigan Sexual Offenses Defense For:
Criminal Sexual Conduct
Defense for serious felony allegations involving consent, credibility, and life-altering consequences.
Child Pornography
Defense for serious felony allegations involving digital evidence, intent, and aggressive prosecution.
Solicitation of a Minor
Defense for serious felony allegations involving communications, intent, and complex digital evidence.
Human Trafficking
Defense for severe felony charges involving allegations of exploitation, coercion, and complex multi-agency investigations.
Statutory Rape
Defense for serious felony allegations involving age-of-consent laws, intent, and severe legal consequences.
Prostitution
Defense for misdemeanor or felony charges involving solicitation allegations, undercover operations, and constitutional rights.
Indecent Exposure
Defense for charges involving public conduct allegations, intent, and lasting reputational consequences.
Why Clients Choose Our Sex Crimes Defense Firm
When you are facing criminal charges, fear and uncertainty can take over fast. You may be worried about jail, your job, your driver’s license, or how this will affect your family and future. Shawn understands that this is often one of the most stressful moments of a person’s life. He takes the time to listen, explain what is happening, and give you clear answers—so you are not left guessing or feeling powerless.
Clients choose Shawn because he combines steady guidance with aggressive defense. He knows how overwhelming the system can feel, and he works to take that weight off your shoulders by protecting your rights and building a strategy early. From the first conversation forward, his focus is on minimizing damage, preserving your freedom, and helping you regain control of your life. You are treated with respect, not judgment, and defended as if your future matters—because it does.
Facing Criminal Charges? Get Legal Help Now
Every Sex Crime Charge I Defend in West Michigan
Each of these pages explains the governing Michigan statute, the penalties, the registration consequence, and how the charge is actually defended in Kent County and the surrounding courts.
Criminal Sexual Conduct
- Criminal Sexual Conduct — all four degrees
- The difference between the CSC degrees
- CSC 1st Degree (MCL 750.520b) — up to life
- CSC 2nd Degree (MCL 750.520c) — up to 15 years
- CSC 3rd Degree (MCL 750.520d) — up to 15 years
- CSC 4th Degree (MCL 750.520e) — 2-year misdemeanor
- Sexual Assault Defense
- Rape Charges in Michigan
- Date Rape and Drug-Facilitated Allegations
- Statutory Rape and the Age of Consent
Offences Involving Minors and the Internet
- Solicitation of a Minor
- Child Sexually Abusive Material
- Internet Sex Crimes and Sting Operations
- Michigan Sexting Laws
Public Conduct, Exploitation and Harassment
- Indecent Exposure
- Public Sexual Conduct
- Prostitution Offences
- Human Trafficking
- Revenge Porn (MCL 750.145e)
- Vulnerable Adult Crimes
- Stalking and Aggravated Stalking
The Sex Offender Registry
- Michigan's Sex Offender Registry (SORA) — tiers and duties
- Getting off the registry
- Failure to register
Reading on These Charges
- Understanding Michigan's degrees of criminal sexual conduct
- Statute of limitations in Michigan CSC cases
- Michigan's Romeo and Juliet provisions
- Forensic evidence in sex crime defence
- Mistakes people make after a false accusation
- How to fight sex offence charges in Michigan
- Federal criminal sexual conduct
- Michigan sexting laws
- Sex offender registry removal
Under investigation and not yet charged? That is the most valuable window you will get — it is when a charging decision can still be influenced and when evidence still exists. Call me at 616-438-6719. I answer directly, at any hour.
The Four Degrees of Criminal Sexual Conduct
Michigan divides criminal sexual conduct into four degrees under MCL 750.520b–750.520e. Two distinctions decide which one you face, and they matter more than almost anything else about the charge.
The first is the act itself. First and third degree involve sexual penetration; second and fourth degree involve sexual contact. The second is the presence of an aggravating factor — the age of the complainant, the use of force or coercion, injury, a weapon, or a relationship of authority. Those factors are what move a contact case from fourth degree to second, and a penetration case from third degree to first.
- CSC 1st Degree (MCL 750.520b) — penetration with an aggravating factor. The most serious of the four, carrying up to life in prison.
- CSC 2nd Degree (MCL 750.520c) — sexual contact with an aggravating factor.
- CSC 3rd Degree (MCL 750.520d) — penetration without the aggravating factors that make a case first degree, most often charged where the complainant is under the age of consent.
- CSC 4th Degree (MCL 750.520e) — sexual contact without those factors. A high court misdemeanor punishable by up to two years, which is not the minor charge the word "misdemeanor" suggests: it is charged and tried like a felony. See high court misdemeanors.
For a full side-by-side of how the four compare, read the four degrees of criminal sexual conduct in Michigan.
What a CSC Conviction Means for the Registry
A conviction for any degree of criminal sexual conduct requires registration under Michigan's Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA, MCL 28.721 et seq.). Registration is tiered: Tier I runs 15 years, Tier II runs 25 years, and Tier III — which includes first-degree CSC — is lifetime.
Because the tier follows the conviction, the registry is frequently the real subject of a CSC defense even where prison is not the likeliest outcome. Reducing a charge by one degree can be the difference between a fixed term on the registry and a permanent one. See the Michigan sex offender registry, failure to register, and whether a sex crime can be expunged in Michigan.
Is Consent a Defense?
Sometimes, and it depends entirely on the facts. Consent can be a defense in cases involving adults. It is never a defense where the complainant is legally unable to consent — a minor under the age of consent, or a person who is mentally incapacitated or physically helpless.
Where consent is not available, the defense usually lies elsewhere: inconsistent statements, the absence of physical or DNA evidence, improper police procedure, unreliable testimony, or a false allegation with a traceable motive. Related reading: statutory rape, date rape allegations, being falsely accused of CSC, and what to do if you are under investigation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a sex crime in Michigan?
Michigan prosecutes most sexual offences as criminal sexual conduct under MCL 750.520b through 750.520e, graded first through fourth degree. Separate statutes cover child sexually abusive material (MCL 750.145c), accosting a minor (MCL 750.145a), indecent exposure (MCL 750.335a), prostitution offences, stalking, and human trafficking.
Will a sex crime conviction put me on the registry?
Most do. Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act sorts registrable offences into Tier I (15 years), Tier II (25 years), and Tier III (life). The tier follows the offence of conviction, not an individual risk assessment, which is why the charge you resolve to matters more than almost anything else.
Should I talk to police if I am under investigation?
No. In most sex crime cases the accused’s own statement is the strongest evidence the prosecution has, and it was given voluntarily before charges were filed. Call a lawyer first at 616-438-6719.
Can a sex crime charge be dismissed or reduced?
Yes. These cases frequently turn on the reliability of a single account, the way a disclosure was obtained, forensic interview procedure, and constitutional problems with statements or searches. Charges are regularly reduced to non-registrable offences.
Where are these cases heard in West Michigan?
A charge begins with arraignment in district court — commonly the 61st District Court in Grand Rapids or the 63rd District Court for the rest of Kent County — then, after a preliminary examination, is bound over to the Kent County Circuit Court (17th Circuit) for trial.