Even if does not result in formal criminal charges, a sex crime allegation can have serious consequences. This is true not only in the St. Louis area, but across the country.
A recent example of this was occurred in Ohio. A promising basketball player at Xavier University in Cincinnati was suspected of sexual assault.
The county prosecutor assigned several assistant prosecutors to review evidence in the case. The prosecutors then presented that evidence to a grand jury.
The grand jury decided not to charge the player with a criminal offense. Following that decision, the country prosecutor announced that no criminal charges would be filed.
Unfortunately, the player had already been expelled from Xavier. The university asserted that the player had violated its code of student conduct. A university conduct board comprised of faculty, administrators and students determined that the punishment for the violation should be expulsion from the school.
Interestingly, the country prosecutor, Joe Deters, seemed troubled by this outcome. In a statement to the press, he noted that the grand jury had reviewed the evidence but concluded that criminal charges were not warranted. Deters went on to say that he hoped the Xavier administration would revisit its decision to expel the player.
Indeed, Deter went so far as to say that the decision was “fundamentally unfair” to the player. “There is something seriously flawed with a procedure where a young man and his accuser appear before a group of people, which I would suggest isn’t very well trained in assessing these types of cases, and they sit there and tell their stories.”
In short, lawyers have an important role in resolving sexual assault allegations.
Source: “Deters: No charges against former Xavier player Dez Wells,” Cincinnati.com, 8-28-12
Our firm handles situations similar to those discussed in this post. To learn more about our practice, please visit our St. Louis sex offenses defense page.
