Juvenile Charged with Aggravated Sexual Battery

My question involves juvenile law in the State of: Virginia

My son was offically charged with Aggravated sexual battery this morning. He had a detention hearing and was held in detention. This is the first time he has ever been in any trouble and we are trying to find him a lawyer as we speak. Right now we are just confused on what to expect. He is only 15. Like I said he has never been in any trouble til now and we were blown away by this and are heartbroken. Will he have to stay in detention until everything is done plus serve whatever sentence? And what kind of time are we looking at? Will this stay in juvenile court or will they try to charge him as an adult? Any help right now will be greatly appreciated.

No, the first thing the lawyer will do is call for the detention review hearing and get him released pending trial. Juveniles 14 and over charged with felonies (this charge is a felony) may be charged as an adult. This will be pursuant to the Commonwealth's attorney making a case for that in JDR court.

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Quoting bsredneckgirl

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Will he have to stay in detention until everything is done plus serve whatever sentence?

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If he was held after initial appearance, rather than being released to parents or put on some sort of supervision or GPS tracking, that suggests that the court feels he may be a danger.

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And what kind of time are we looking at?

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Depends on whether he gets charged as a juvenile or an adult and whether he's found (or pleads) guilty. If they charge him as an adult, it's a felony with a sentence of between 1 and 20 years in prison plus fines up to $100,000 (plus restitution to the victim, plus sex offender registration upon release). If they charge him as a juvenile, he could be held until 18.

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Will this stay in juvenile court or will they try to charge him as an adult?

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Only the prosecutor can answer that question, based on the details of the crime. He could be charged either way.

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Any help right now will be greatly appreciated.

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Find him an attorney, and make sure that ONLY his attorney discusses the details of the crime with him (anyone ELSE, like you, could potentially be called as a witness against him if he has related information about what happened).

How can they determine he is a threat when they never asked any questions or anything? They just charged him and immediately put him in detention.

Presumably there was enough evidence for the state to consider him a threat - perhaps the victim's statements, injuries, etc., were enough.