Husband Accused of Molestation

My question involves criminal law for the state of: California

Background info: Married to my husband for almost 3 years. He has 2 children, I have 2 children (from a previous marriage) and we just had a baby together 2 weeks ago. We live in an extended family to help us out at the moment. We live with the mother of his children and her husband with all of the children.

In April the 12 year old sister of the mother of my husbands children stayed with us for a few nights. Her parents are horrible (several CPS cases, alcholics, ect) and are never home with them so she stayed at our house. On the anniversary of her sisters death she made accusations that my husband made her touch his genitals and previously went into the room where she was sleeping and pulled her pants down two days prior. My husband has denied these allegations completely. He said that he told her to go to bed because it was late and she refused and got mad and so he took the computer away and had to wrestle it away from her because she would not let it go. He said she then went to bed mad.

I do not believe any of her accusations. She has accused another guy of doing something to her, filed a police report, and then came out and said she was lying about it. I honestly believe that she is doing this for attention.

The police have taken their reports, CPS has interviewed all of our children this past week, the police have taken his DNA, the blankets from the bed she slept in, her clothing and did a female exam on her. I dont know if she is promiscuous or not but she is always talking about making out with her boyfriends, ect and the doctor who did the exam told her sister that something definately did happen to her. (Couldnt that have happened if she had sex with a boyfriend?) It is possible that his hair was on the blankets of the bed she was sleeping in because the blankets are in his childrens room which well he lives with and has been in their room quite often.

Husbands ex made him leave the house. He is staying at a friends house. She wont let him see his kids without her there and it is always at a park. This is technically our house because we signed the lease. The ex believes he is lying because "he said her name when he was talking to her" (her exact words). I mean what else is he supposed to call her other than her name?

Anyways we dont know what is going on. The police wont tell us anything, the DA hasn't returned any calls. It has almost been 2 months since she made these allegations. If convicted what sentencing could he get for alleged touching? He has been threatened by the girls dad that if he leaves his friends house he will be killed, ect. He is so scared to even go to the grocery store. I just dont know what to do. If he is convicted and has to register will he be allowed around his/my/our children?

Im scared and dont know what to think or do. Our children are hurting because their dad is gone (they dont know what is going on), im tired of everyone asking me if I am going to divorce him because he did this, ect. Please any advice would be appreciated.

He should consult a criminal defense lawyer, and inquire about taking a private polygraph test. (So if the state asks for one, he'll have a sense of whether he'll be declared to have passed.) This, of course, will cost money. But if he's charged the police won't find out about the test or its result unless he or his lawyer tell them, and unless he passes (and perhaps not even then) they won't.

Rest assured the authorities are quietly gathering enough evidence to slam dunk your husband.

The charges will come and they will be hard, so what I would do is begin gathering as much information on the victim as possible. If she has made false claims in the past I would gather as much information and evidence as possible that clearly indicates this without a doubt, to discredit her as much as I could. The name of the game here is to discredit her

I wouldn’t go to the authorities or provide anything I had found but keep it in a safe accessible place. When I was charged I would enter a Not-Guilty plea and wait in jail until my court date at which time I would let all the information I had gather speak for itself.

You must do all the leg work because a lawyer will not do it as thoroughly as you can. Once you have it and have a lawyer then you can hand the lawyer the evidence for them to work with. The more evidence, names, witnesses and information you can provide the better off you will be.

You have to comply with the criminal discovery rules for your state, and that can prevent you from having a stack of evidence you intend to spring at trial. But your lawyer can help you understand those rules.

Yes the criminal discovery rules apply but if a lawyer is recently given information he can present it to the court when he/she receives it and it’s all legal.

Geez how many time have the DA hidden evidence or kept it from the defense, and consider it alright through some justification?

Watch the movie “Primal Fear” and see how the lawyer played by Richard Gear gets the video tape entered into evidence.

Yes, and watch Boston Legal for more ways lawyers can get over on the system...:rolleyes:

Movies are not real life!

You may not be doing yourself any favors by trying to discredit a 12 year old child; you may make her look like more of a victim than she already may be.

Op, you need to step back and consider that this girl *may* be telling the truth.

I'd step very carefully were I you; you have children you need to protect. Your husband *could* be lying, or he *might* be telling the truth. If they did find his pubic hair in the bed, I'd take that into serious consideration.

I wish you well.

I like CSI and the reality of it… :D

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Quoting Perry Mason

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I like CSI and the reality of it… :D

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The sad thing is how LITTLE of CSI (or most such shows) reflects actual cases, actual law, actual admissibilty, actual use of forensic science, actual or even probable situations at many levels....

There's a REASON we have the phrase "The CSI Effect" - and this is a prime example of it. Sure, they have forensic experts for consultation - but those experts don't WRITE the scripts, the scripts aren't based on actual cases, and even the experts would tell you how often their objections of "um, it couldn't ever really happen that way" get overlooked by directors and producers because they are making ENTERTAINMENT, as opposed to documentaries.

Not to mention the whole concept of "willing suspension of disbelief" - which is why people with even minimal actual training or exposure to the REAL world of forensics or law end up switching the channel about 4 minutes into such shows.

I enjoy CSI for the entertainment, but NOT the reality.

First, they do NOT get results as fast as they do.

Second, no one has computers that has all the information theirs do plus contact info for every mook the defendant has ever known, every place he's lived and worked, and a listing of every paramour he's had. And those neat rotating photos? Nope.

Third, the CSIs do not interview suspects and they are rarely peace officers. In fact, the first season of that show (the original in Las Vegas) I recall that the characters were NOT peace officers ... then, as I recall, they decided that limited their entertainment options so they added badges and guns.

CSI and shows like it have given the impression that all cops can do what they do on TV. Few understand the true cost of a CSI call out. If the CA DOJ were to start billing us for a crime scene callout, we'd have to lay off an officer to pay for it ... THAT's how much it costs to process a scene, and the evidence, with a team of CSIs. Very, very few agencies have the benefit of their own CSI teams and lab facilities.

In the case at hand I can tell you that processing any evidence is likely to take many weeks if not months. If state labs are being used and no suspect is in custody, it could be two to six months to get any results back from blankets and the like. And, no, the state is not going to rush to court until they have all their ducks in a row. The state has a three year window in which to prosecute most felonies, longer in the case of most sex crimes. Depending on what he is specifically accused of, they may have many years to actually make the case.

In short, the suspect needs to get an attorney yesterday. There may never be enough evidence to bring the matter to trial. But, there may be enough to maintain CPS jurisdiction over the matter for quite some time. It may be that they will never be able to make a case, and maybe the DA will drop the matter entirely. An attorney might be able to shake that tree and find out where things stand. But, unless they are pressed, the police and the DA have many years to sit on their hands and wait.

- Carl

We have a huge problem. We cannot afford a lawyer at all, we have to wait for a public defender when/if he gets charged. What can we do in the meantime? Can we go and request one before then? We dont have savings, credit cards or anything. He is off work and I just had a baby so I too am off work. My parents have no money/ credit either so we are stuck. What can we do?