Serious Allegations Against a Football Player Lead to Cut By Atlanta Falcons

Justin Crawford, an undrafted free agent for the Atlanta Falcons, has been accused of committing the following offenses toward a 12-year-old female family member:

• Incest in Georgia
• Aggravated Child Molestation in Georgia
• Sodomy in Georgia
• Enticing a Child for Indecent Purposes in Georgia

During yesterday's preliminary hearing, Crawford's wife recounted walking in on a disturbing and inappropriate scene in the couple's living room involving Crawford and the young girl. According to reports, Crawford initially denied any wrongdoing, but eventually he admitted to having oral sex and intercourse with the 12-year-old girl. 

Most people's understandings of incest stem from widespread media, so as an Atlanta Criminal Lawyer, I will outline the criminal offense of incest in Georgia in today's post. 

Incest in Georgia

The Georgia Codes defines incest as:

A person commits the offense of incest when such person engages in sexual intercourse or sodomy, with a person whom he or she knows he or she is related to either by blood or by marriage as follows:

• Father and child or stepchild
• Mother and child or stepchild;
• Siblings of the whole blood or of the half blood;
• Grandparent and grandchild of the whole blood or of the half blood;
• Aunt and niece or nephew of the whole blood or of the half blood; or
• Uncle and niece or nephew of the whole blood or of the half blood. O.C.G.A. § 16-6-22.

A person convicted of incest will be guilty of a felony. The punishment will be a prison term between ten and thirty years. However, if the child was under 14 years old, then the prison term gets escalated to between twenty-five and fifty years.

Practice Note

If convicted of incest, the convicted person will be required to register as a sex offender. You can learn more about the Georgia Sex Registry here. 

Sex Crimes in Georgia are taken very seriously. And unfortunately, the majority of the time, people automatically assume guilt when a person has been accused of committing a sex crime. This, however, is not the case. No matter how horrendous the crime, a person must either plead guilty or be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 

If you or a loved one has been accused of committing a crime, contact an Atlanta Criminal Attorney.