Troup County Man Sentenced to 25 Years for Incest and Child Molestation

A Troup County man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison this past week. Robert Crawford was convicted of the following charges:

• Incest in Georgia
• Child Molestation in Georgia
• Aggravated Child Molestation in Georgia
• Rape in Georgia

Crawford was arrested last spring. As a Georgia Sex Crimes Lawyer, I will outline the law behind incest in today's post as it is typically used incorrectly and not well-explained.

Incest in Georgia

Incest is defined by Georgia Law in O.C.G.A. §16-6-22 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. 

Incest is classified as a felony. Georgia Felony Punishments are severe and life-changing. 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. In addition to prison, a person convicted of incest will be required to register as a sex offender on the Georgia Sex Offender Registry.

Practice Note

Even though Crawford was found guilty in a court of law - not everyone who is accused of committing a crime is guilty of committing that crime. Unfortunately, more people are wrongly accused and arrested than we would like to admit. Being convicted of a felony and moreover, being registered on the sex offender registry can severely curtail job opportunities and even limit the areas in which you are allowed to live. Furthermore, the social stigma associated with being a convicted sex offender can ruin a person's reputation and their life.

Hiring the right Georgia Sex Crimes Attorney can mean the difference between spending decades in jail or being a registered sex offender for the rest of your life. If you have been wrongfully accused, you should be able to get your normal life back. 

Contact us today.