Q. What if I thought it were fantasy role play with the other participant?
A. Unless you have taken steps to ensure that the other person is an adult who is engaging in fantasy role play then the court will consider that you had no knowledge that the person was anyone other than the person they said there were ie someone under the age of 16 (and in certain cases 18) and you will be dealt with accordingly.
Q. Why does it matter is somebody is under 13?
A. If you are communicating with a minor, an aggravating factor is that they are under 13 years of age. It may be obvious but, the younger the person is, the less mature they are and the less that they should be involved in sexual conversations and/or activity.
Q. Will I definitely go to prison?
A. It is not a definite that you will go to prison however, dependent upon what you have said in the conversations, for example, you have talked about penetrative sexual acts, not only that the individual may commit (for example masturbation), but, more likely, a suggestion that you wanted to penetrate that person’s body, and dependent upon how old that person says he/she is, together with the length of time that you were conversing with the person, may mean that you are more likely to be given an immediate prison sentence. Sometimes a “suspended sentence” is available which means that you get a prison sentence but you do not go immediately to prison (for a further example please contact us on 07798 753 720 or 07592 157 957).
Q. Why am I being charged with an attempt?
A. The vast majority of people who are committing such offences are dealing with either undercover police officers or vigilantes, who are adults. Some offences are classed as attempts because individuals take actions with the intent to commit a fully-fledged crime but they fail to complete the act.
Here, the individual is conversing with an adult but believes he is conversing with a child and as such the “fully fledged” crime cannot be committed, but he is attempting to commit that crime because he does not know that the person he is communicating with is an adult ie he thinks the person is a minor, hence the person is charged with an attempt.
Q. Can I prevent my name going in the press?
A. No.
Q. Can I change my name before I go to court?
A. Yes you can.
Q. Can I get a temporary address for the purposes of my name being reported in the press?
A. Yes you can but this may lead to some problems especially if you are given a curfew and a tag. For further information please contact us on 07798 753 720 or 07592 157 957.
Q. How long can the police keep me on bail?
A. Police bail can consist of 3 sets of 3 months bail each ie a total of 9 months. They can extend at the end of each 3 month period and at the end of a 9 month period, if they still require you to be on bail they can apply to a Magistrates Court for a further extension.
You can make representations at each stage and should the police not vary bail if you think it is reasonable to do so, you can make an application of your own volition to the Magistrates Court to consider the variation.
Q. Do the police/vigilantes make mistakes?
A. Sometimes they do but it is very rare that the police make a mistake. The vigilantes are more prone to. Usually there is a transcript of the conversation at the interview which sets out what has been said by both parties.
Q. Do you offer fixed fees to deal with a Plea & Mitigation?
A. Yes, we do. There is no “one size fits all”. It will depend upon the nature and severity of your offending however a fixed fee will includes the fees for the barristers and VAT.
