You are reading this because someone has accused you of a sex crime, or you believe an accusation is coming. You may have already been arrested. You may have been contacted by a detective who wants to “hear your side.” You may have discovered that a family member, a former partner, or a stranger has made a report, and now your entire life feels like it is about to collapse.
Sex crime allegations are different from every other criminal charge. The accusation alone causes damage that other charges do not. Your name on a police report for sexual assault changes how people look at you before any court weighs a single piece of evidence. Employers run background checks. Neighbors talk. The internet does not forget. And if you are convicted, Arizona imposes some of the harshest sentences in the country, including mandatory prison terms that cannot be shortened and lifetime sex offender registration that follows you to every address, every job application, and every interaction with the legal system for the rest of your life.
Brad Rideout is a former Arizona prosecutor who understands exactly how the state builds sex crime cases because he used to build them. He knows which evidence prosecutors rely on, where their cases are weakest, and how to dismantle allegations that look overwhelming on paper but fall apart under real scrutiny. Every consultation is confidential. Every case is handled with complete discretion.
If you are facing a sex crime accusation of any kind, call our Scottsdale office at (480) 584-3328, our Lake Havasu office at (928) 854-8181, or toll-free at (833) 854-8181. This call is protected by attorney-client privilege. No one will know you contacted us.
Sex Crime Charges Under Arizona Law
Arizona prosecutes sex offenses under Title 13, Chapter 14 of the Arizona Revised Statutes. Each offense has specific elements the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt, and each carries its own sentencing range. Understanding what you are actually charged with, and what the state has to prove, is the starting point for any defense.
Sexual Assault (A.R.S. § 13-1406)
Sexual assault is Arizona’s equivalent of what most states call rape. Under A.R.S. § 13-1406, a person commits sexual assault by intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse or oral sexual contact with another person without that person’s consent.
The statute defines consent broadly. Sex without consent includes situations where the victim is coerced by threat of force, is incapable of consent due to mental disorder or intoxication, is deceived about the nature of the act, or is asleep or unconscious. The state does not have to prove physical force. The absence of consent is enough.
Sexual assault is a Class 2 felony. For a first offense with an adult victim, the presumptive prison term is 7 years, with a range of 5.25 to 14 years under A.R.S. § 13-702. The court cannot grant probation. The sentence is served day for day with no early release. If the victim is under 15, the offense becomes punishable under the Dangerous Crimes Against Children (DCAC) statute, A.R.S. § 13-706, which imposes a mandatory minimum of 13 years and a maximum of 27 years for a first offense. Those are flat-time sentences. No time credits. No parole. No early release of any kind.
A conviction requires lifetime sex offender registration under A.R.S. § 13-3821 and lifetime probation after release from prison under A.R.S. § 13-902.01.
Sexual Abuse (A.R.S. § 13-1404)
A.R.S. § 13-1404 covers sexual contact, as opposed to sexual intercourse, without the victim’s consent. Sexual contact means any direct or indirect touching, fondling, or manipulating of any part of the genitals, anus, or female breast.
Sexual abuse of an adult is a Class 5 felony, carrying a presumptive sentence of 1.5 years (range: 0.75 to 2.5 years) for a first offense. If the victim is under 15, the charge becomes a Class 3 felony punishable under DCAC sentencing with a mandatory minimum of 5.25 years and a maximum of 15 years, served flat-time.
Sexual Conduct With a Minor (A.R.S. § 13-1405)
Under A.R.S. § 13-1405, a person commits sexual conduct with a minor by intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse or oral sexual contact with a person under 18. Consent is not a defense. Even if the minor agreed, even if the minor initiated contact, the conduct is illegal.
If the minor is under 15, the offense is a Class 2 felony subject to DCAC sentencing: 13 years minimum, 27 years maximum for a first offense, served day for day. A second DCAC offense for sexual conduct with a minor carries a mandatory minimum of 23 years and a maximum of 37 years.
If the minor is 15, 16, or 17, the offense is a Class 6 felony, provided the defendant is under 19 or still in high school and the conduct was consensual. Otherwise, it is a Class 2 felony with a presumptive term of 5 years.
The age gap between the parties matters significantly. Arizona law allows a limited “Romeo and Juliet” defense when the age difference is small and the minor is at least 15, but this is a narrow exception. If it does not apply, the penalties are severe regardless of the circumstances.
Child Molestation (A.R.S. § 13-1410)
A.R.S. § 13-1410 prohibits intentionally or knowingly engaging in or causing a person to engage in sexual contact with a child under 15. This statute does not require intercourse. Any sexual contact with a child under 15 falls under this provision.
Molestation of a child is a Class 2 felony subject to DCAC sentencing. The mandatory minimum is 10 years. The presumptive term is 17 years. The maximum is 24 years for a first offense. Every day of the sentence is served. There is no early release, no time credits, and no parole.
A second offense carries a mandatory minimum of 21 years. A third carries a mandatory minimum of 28 years.
Indecent Exposure (A.R.S. § 13-1402)
Under A.R.S. § 13-1402, a person commits indecent exposure by exposing genitals, anus, or the areola or nipple of the female breast and another person is present, while the person is reckless about whether the other person would be offended or alarmed.
Indecent exposure to an adult is a Class 1 misdemeanor for a first offense, carrying up to six months in jail. A second offense is a Class 6 felony. If the victim is under 15, the first offense is a Class 6 felony. A second offense involving a victim under 15 triggers sex offender registration.
This charge is more common than most people realize. Urinating in a parking lot, changing clothes in a car, or a misunderstanding at a gym or pool can lead to an indecent exposure accusation. Despite how minor the underlying conduct may seem, a felony conviction with sex offender registration is a real possibility.
Public Sexual Indecency (A.R.S. § 13-1403)
A.R.S. § 13-1403 applies when a person intentionally or knowingly engages in sexual contact, oral sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or bestiality in the presence of another person, while reckless about whether the other person would be offended or alarmed.
Public sexual indecency involving an adult witness is a Class 1 misdemeanor. If the person present is under 15, the offense becomes a Class 5 felony with a presumptive sentence of 1.5 years and mandatory sex offender registration.
The Sentencing Reality: What You Are Actually Facing
Arizona’s sentencing structure for sex offenses is among the most severe in the United States. Understanding what a conviction actually means, in years and consequences, matters when you are deciding how to fight the charge.
Dangerous Crimes Against Children (DCAC) Sentencing
Any sex offense against a victim under 15 triggers DCAC sentencing under A.R.S. § 13-706. DCAC sentences are flat-time. The number the judge pronounces is the number you serve. There is no earned release credit, no good-time reduction, and no parole eligibility.
DCAC minimums are staggering:
For a Class 2 felony (sexual assault of a child under 15, sexual conduct with a minor under 15, molestation), the first-offense range is 13 to 27 years. A second offense jumps to 23 to 37 years. A third offense is 35 years to life. These sentences must run consecutively if multiple victims are involved.
For a Class 3 felony (sexual abuse of a child under 15), the first-offense range is 5.25 to 15 years.
These are not theoretical maximums that judges never impose. Arizona courts sentence within these ranges routinely. Prosecutors pursue DCAC charges aggressively, and judges rarely deviate downward.
Lifetime Probation and Sex Offender Registration
Under A.R.S. § 13-902.01, any person convicted of a sex offense requiring registration must serve lifetime probation after completing their prison sentence. Lifetime probation means regular check-ins with a probation officer, restrictions on where you can live and work, mandatory polygraph examinations, GPS monitoring in many cases, and internet and social media restrictions. A single probation violation sends you back to prison.
Sex offender registration under A.R.S. § 13-3821 requires you to register with local law enforcement within 72 hours of release, within 72 hours of any change of address, and annually for the rest of your life. Your name, photograph, address, and offense appear on the public registry. Failure to register is a separate Class 4 felony carrying a presumptive sentence of 2.5 years.
Registration affects every part of your life. You cannot live within certain distances of schools, parks, or childcare centers in many jurisdictions. Many landlords refuse registered sex offenders. Most employers in education, healthcare, childcare, financial services, and government will not hire someone on the registry. Professional licenses can be denied or revoked. Travel to other countries is restricted or prohibited entirely.
Collateral Consequences Beyond the Sentence
A sex crime conviction does not end when the prison sentence does. Beyond registration and lifetime probation, you face permanent loss of the right to possess firearms under both federal and Arizona law, permanent loss of voting rights for felony convictions (restorable only after completion of sentence and probation), potential deportation for non-citizens, loss of professional licenses and certifications, and social consequences that no court order can undo.
The accusation itself, even without a conviction, causes lasting harm. Arrest records appear on background checks. News coverage of sex crime arrests is common and permanent online. Employers, landlords, and personal relationships can be destroyed by the allegation alone.
Defense Strategies in Sex Crime Cases
Sex crime cases are emotionally charged, and that emotion can work against you in court. The state benefits from the visceral reaction jurors have to these allegations. An effective defense cuts through that reaction and forces the jury to examine the actual evidence. Brad Rideout has spent years doing exactly that, first as a prosecutor building sex crime cases, then as a defense attorney taking them apart.
Consent
In adult sexual assault cases under A.R.S. § 13-1406, consent is the most common defense. If the sexual contact was consensual, no crime occurred. The question becomes what evidence exists to support or contradict the claim that consent was absent.
Text messages, social media conversations, and communications before and after the alleged incident are often the most powerful evidence in consent cases. A complainant who sends friendly, flirtatious, or intimate messages after the alleged assault faces serious credibility problems at trial. Evidence that both parties continued a relationship after the alleged incident can raise significant reasonable doubt.
Consent cases require careful handling. The defense must be factual and evidence-based, not inflammatory. Brad Rideout understands how to present consent evidence in a way that is effective with juries without alienating them.
False Accusations and Motive to Fabricate
False accusations of sex crimes happen. They happen during custody battles, during divorces, after breakups, and in situations where someone regrets a consensual encounter and reframes it after the fact. They happen when a teenager fears parental punishment. They happen when someone wants an advantage in a civil dispute or immigration proceeding.
Defending against a false accusation means showing the jury why the accuser might lie. Motive evidence, prior inconsistent statements, contradictions between the accuser’s account and physical evidence, and evidence of the accuser’s behavior before and after the alleged offense all matter. In cases involving children, the manner in which a disclosure was obtained (leading questions by parents, therapists, or investigators) can undermine the reliability of the accusation entirely.
Brad Rideout’s prosecutorial background is particularly valuable here. He has seen the full range of accusations, true and false, from the state’s side. He knows what a credible accusation looks like and where fabricated ones fall apart.
Unreliable Forensic Evidence
The state frequently relies on forensic evidence in sex crime cases: DNA analysis, sexual assault examination results, digital forensic analysis of phones and computers. This evidence can be powerful, but it is not infallible.
DNA evidence proves contact. It does not prove the contact was nonconsensual. A sexual assault exam may show physical findings consistent with sexual contact, but many findings are also consistent with consensual activity. The absence of physical injury does not prove consent, but it also does not prove force.
Digital forensic evidence, including internet search history, messaging app data, and image files, requires expert analysis and often expert testimony to interpret correctly. Metadata can be misread. Files can be shared without the device owner’s knowledge. Timestamps and location data are only as reliable as the technology that generated them.
Rideout Law Group works with forensic experts, medical professionals, and digital forensics specialists to challenge the state’s evidence on technical grounds where it is warranted.
Constitutional Violations
Your constitutional rights do not disappear because the accusation involves a sex crime. Law enforcement officers investigating sex crime allegations regularly push constitutional boundaries, and evidence obtained through those violations is subject to suppression.
Common constitutional issues in sex crime cases include interrogations conducted without proper Miranda warnings, particularly when a “voluntary interview” at the police station was actually custodial. They include search warrants for phones, computers, and residences that lack probable cause or exceed their scope. They include prolonged pre-arrest surveillance and undercover operations that cross into entrapment. And they include forensic evidence obtained through warrantless searches of electronic devices.
If the police violated your rights during the investigation, the evidence they obtained may be excluded from trial. A suppression ruling can gut the state’s case entirely.
Expert Witnesses
Sex crime defense often requires expert testimony that goes beyond what a lay jury would understand on its own. Depending on the facts, your defense may benefit from a forensic psychologist who can explain false memory formation, suggestibility in children, or the dynamics of false accusations. It may require a medical expert who can testify about alternative explanations for physical findings. It may need a digital forensics expert who can challenge the state’s interpretation of electronic evidence, or a DNA expert who can explain the limitations of the state’s lab results.
Rideout Law Group has established relationships with experts across these fields and brings them into cases whenever the evidence warrants it.
Why You Need an Attorney Before You Talk to Anyone
If a detective calls and says they want to hear your side of the story, that call is not a conversation. It is an investigation. The detective already has an accusation. They are looking for evidence to support a charge. Everything you say will be recorded and used against you.
People who speak to detectives before consulting an attorney routinely make their cases worse. They make admissions they do not realize are admissions. They provide details that contradict other evidence in ways they cannot anticipate. They lock themselves into a version of events that limits their defense options later. They waive rights they did not know they had.
Contact Rideout Law Group before you respond to any law enforcement inquiry. Before you agree to an interview. Before you consent to a search. Before you provide a DNA sample. Before you turn over your phone. Every one of those decisions has legal consequences, and once you make them, you cannot take them back.
Call our Scottsdale office at (480) 584-3328, our Lake Havasu office at (928) 854-8181, or toll-free at (833) 854-8181. The call is confidential. Attorney-client privilege protects everything you tell us.
Why Rideout Law Group
Brad Rideout is a former Arizona District Attorney who prosecuted serious felonies, including sex crime cases. He knows the investigation process, the forensic methods, the interrogation techniques, and the trial strategies the state uses because he used them himself. Now he uses that knowledge to defend people accused of the same offenses.
Sex crime defense requires an attorney who will not flinch at the nature of the allegations, who will investigate the case with the same intensity the state brings, and who will fight the charges in court when fighting is what the case requires. Brad handles these cases with total confidentiality. Your consultation is private. Your case details are protected. The people in your life do not have to know you contacted a defense attorney unless you choose to tell them.
Rideout Law Group also handles criminal defense across the full range of Arizona felonies and misdemeanors, including assault and violent crimes, domestic violence, and drug offenses. If your sex crime case overlaps with other charges, Brad handles the full picture, not just one piece of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do if I am accused of a sex crime in Arizona?
Do not speak to police, detectives, or investigators without an attorney. Do not contact the accuser. Do not discuss the allegations with friends, family, or on social media. Contact a Scottsdale sex crimes defense lawyer immediately. What you say and do in the first 48 hours after an accusation shapes the rest of the case.
What is the difference between sexual assault and sexual abuse under Arizona law?
Sexual assault under A.R.S. § 13-1406 involves sexual intercourse or oral sexual contact without consent and is a Class 2 felony. Sexual abuse under A.R.S. § 13-1404 involves sexual contact (touching) without consent and is a Class 5 felony when the victim is an adult, or a Class 3 felony when the victim is under 15.
Can I go to prison for a sex crime even with no prior criminal record?
Yes. Most sex crime convictions in Arizona carry mandatory prison terms. Sexual assault of an adult (A.R.S. § 13-1406) has a presumptive sentence of 7 years with no probation available. Any sex offense against a victim under 15 carries DCAC mandatory minimums that start at 5.25 years and go up to 35 years to life, depending on the charge.
What does sex offender registration require?
Under A.R.S. § 13-3821, you must register with law enforcement within 72 hours of release, within 72 hours of any address change, and annually for life. Your name, photo, address, and conviction appear on the public registry. Failure to register is a Class 4 felony. Registration restricts where you can live and work and follows you permanently.
What is DCAC sentencing?
Dangerous Crimes Against Children (DCAC) sentencing under A.R.S. § 13-706 applies to sex offenses against victims under 15. DCAC sentences are flat-time, meaning you serve every day of the sentence with no early release, no good-time credits, and no parole. Mandatory minimums range from 5.25 years to 35 years depending on the charge and the number of prior offenses.
Can a sex crime charge be based only on the accuser’s word?
Legally, yes. Arizona does not require corroborating evidence to prosecute a sex crime. A conviction can rest on the testimony of a single witness if the jury finds that testimony credible beyond a reasonable doubt. However, the absence of corroborating evidence (physical findings, DNA, witnesses, digital evidence) is a significant weakness that a skilled defense attorney can use to create reasonable doubt.
Will my sex crime case be public?
Arrests and court filings are generally public records in Arizona. However, certain proceedings involving minors may be sealed. Your attorney can advise you on what information is likely to become public and, in some cases, seek protective orders to limit disclosure. Consulting an attorney early, before charges are even filed, gives you the best chance of controlling the flow of information.
Protect Your Future. Call Now.
A sex crime accusation can destroy your career, your relationships, your freedom, and your reputation. The consequences of a conviction follow you for the rest of your life. Brad Rideout, a former Arizona District Attorney, will fight these charges with the intensity and discretion your case demands. Every conversation with our firm is confidential from the first phone call forward.
📞 Scottsdale Office: (480) 584-3328
📞 Lake Havasu Office: (928) 854-8181
📞 Toll-Free: (833) 854-8181
Call now for a confidential consultation.
This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. Sex crime laws are complex and penalties vary based on the specific facts of each case. For legal guidance about your situation, contact a licensed attorney at Rideout Law Group. We serve clients throughout Arizona, including Scottsdale, Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, Lake Havasu City, and surrounding areas.