Blog

In Washington, “domestic violence” is a term applying to a variety of different offenses. It can also be a label attached to a separately charged crime which will enhance the penalties of the underlying crime....Read More

While official 50-state data for 2020 won’t be available for several more months, top officials overseeing child welfare at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently said they’ve seen no solid evidence to...Read More

There are few surer ways for politicians to please voters than to propose to crack down on sex offenders—no matter how much cracking down has already been done. We see this again in the current...Read More

When it comes to sexual encounters, consent can sometimes be a hard thing to navigate. Unfortunately, on-screen portrayals of sex sometimes further muddy the waters and reinforce common misconceptions about consent. One prominent example comes...Read More

Juveniles and adults who have committed a Class A, B, or C felony or a gross misdemeanor classified as a “sex offense” are required to register as a sex offender for a period that can...Read More

Southeast Missouri State University President Dr. Carlos Varga recently responded to a petition from students regarding the University’s handling of sexual misconduct on campus. The students have also raised questions and concerns about a 16-slide...Read More

Washington rape law is complicated. First we need to distinguish Rape from Rape of a Child, which used to be known as statutory rape. Here we’re going to explain Rape; to understand Rape of a...Read More

Earlier this year, the New York Times published a feature – “Convicted of Sex Crimes, but With No Victims” – examining sex sting operations in Washington, including a sting dubbed “Operation Net Nanny.” In a...Read More

Earlier this year, Dale G. Black, a Kennewick, Washington man who is serving a 30-year prison sentence for producing sexually explicit videos of three children, agreed to pay $400,000 in restitution to two of the...Read More

There is a high occurrence of false accusations in child molestation prosecutions. In many cases there is no evidence against the accused other than the statements of the complaining child. Unfortunately, this means that anyone...Read More

As we noted in a recent post, pediatricians have reported that there was a rise in serious physical abuse cases during the last recession. In a USA Today article, Dr. Lori Frasier, chief of child abuse...Read More

In a post published back in June, we referenced a story in The Columbian that reported child abuse intakes in Washington were down nearly 50% since early February. Because teachers and school resource officers are a...Read More

What is the Statute of Limitations for Civil Claims Alleging Childhood Sexual Abuse? A person who can prove she or he has been sexually abused is entitled to be compensated with money through a civil...Read More

Washington’s Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative (SSOSA), which was established in 1984, authorizes courts to order certain sexual offenders to undergo treatment in lieu of serving time in prison. In 1990, a Special Sex Offender...Read More

This may seem like a fairly straightforward question, but in reality, a sexual relationship with someone who is 16 or 17 in Washington can be riddled with legal landmines (even if the other party is...Read More

In late June, comedian Chris D’Elia faced a barrage of accusations from multiple women – some named and some anonymous – on Twitter. While some of these women encountered D’Elia as young adults, others recalled...Read More

A Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) is a court order issued to provide protection to a victim of domestic violence. Below are responses to some of the most commonly asked questions regarding a petition for...Read More

A recent King 5 investigation revealed that a Tacoma doctor regarded as one of the state’s preeminent experts in identifying subtle signs of child abuse lacks specialized medical training in this area. Since 2009, the...Read More

In a post last month on domestic violence in the time of coronavirus, we noted that these types of allegations were likely to increase with everyone spending more time in their home and feeling higher...Read More

On February 14, 2020, The Chicago Tribune reported that singer R. Kelly is facing yet another allegation of sexual abuse of a minor in Illinois. For those unfamiliar with Kelly’s ongoing legal woes, he has...Read More

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted all aspects of life in Washington. With many people staying home nearly all the time and everyone stressed by the danger of a new and deadly disease, domestic violence allegations...Read More

There is a long-running joke within the legal community about lawyers’ reluctance to answer any question with a simple “yes” or “no.” Instead, what you will often hear is, “It depends.” There’s a good reason...Read More

Things to know: It doesn’t matter if it was consensual. Many people assume that the term “rape” implies that some amount of force was used by the perpetrator. Wrong! In fact, force isn’t something the government...Read More