SEX OFFENSE LAWYER IN GARNER AND ALL OF WAKE COUNTY NC

SEX CRIMES ATTORNEY IN GARNER, NC

Patrick Roberts Law represents people facing criminal charges in Garner, North Carolina, a fast-growing Wake County town just south of Raleigh. Defending people accused of sex offenses is one of the core things the firm does. If you are facing a sex crime charge or investigation in Garner, Wake County, or anywhere in the surrounding area, we handle exactly this kind of case. That ranges from state charges in Wake County Superior Court to federal cases in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

What Sex Offense Charges Do We Defend?

Below are the specific charges the firm defends, what the law actually requires the state to prove, and what a conviction can carry. Understanding the charge is the first step in understanding how it can be challenged.

Statutory Rape and Statutory Sexual Offense

We represent clients charged with statutory rape and statutory sexual offense. These offenses turn entirely on the ages of the people involved, not on force or consent. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.23 and § 14-27.28, an adult who engages in vaginal intercourse or another sexual act with a child under 13 commits a Class B1 felony. That felony carries a mandatory minimum of at least 300 months (25 years) of active imprisonment. From there, it can climb to life without parole. Related statutes cover other age bands. Under § 14-27.24 and § 14-27.29, the offense applies when the defendant is not an adult but is at least 12 and at least four years older than a child under 13. Under § 14-27.25 and § 14-27.30, it applies when the victim is 15 or younger, splitting between Class B1 and Class C felonies depending on the age gap.

What makes these charges so difficult, and so important to defend properly, is that they are strict liability as to age. Under State v. Anthony, neither the alleged victim's consent nor your belief about their age is a defense. That means the defense has to be built around what the state must actually prove: the act itself, identity, the precise dates of birth, the exact age gap, and the reliability of the accusation. In North Carolina, statutory rape of a child by an adult is a Class B1 felony, the most serious class of statutory sex offense. The Class B1 presumptive range runs from 192 to 240 months at the lowest prior-record level. From there, the ranges climb sharply. We know how narrow the defensible ground is in these cases and how to work it, including keeping a case off the 300-month mandatory-minimum track wherever the facts allow.

Taking Indecent Liberties With Children

We defend clients charged with taking indecent liberties with children under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202.1. It is a Class F felony that requires the defendant to be at least 16 and at least five years older than a child under 16. This is one of the most broadly written offenses in this area of law. No touching and no completed act is required. Under State v. Quarg, the required purpose of "arousing or gratifying sexual desire" can be inferred from the defendant's actions rather than proven directly. Because of that breadth, indecent liberties is frequently stacked onto or substituted for statutory-offense counts arising from the same allegation.

Even as a lower-classified felony than statutory rape, the consequences are serious. A Class F felony carries a presumptive minimum of 13 to 16 months at the lowest prior-record level. It is also a registration-triggering offense. We focus the defense where it counts in these cases: the specificity and consistency of the accusation, the five-year age gap, and whether the state can actually establish the sexual purpose the first prong of the statute requires.

Sexual Exploitation of a Minor (Child Sexual Abuse Material)

We represent clients charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, child sexual abuse material cases. North Carolina grades this offense in three degrees. First-degree exploitation under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.16 (production) is generally a Class C felony; second-degree under § 14-190.17 (recording and distribution) is a Class E felony; and third-degree under § 14-190.17A (knowing possession) is a Class H felony. A first-degree exploitation charge carries a presumptive minimum of 58 to 73 months at the lowest prior-record level. Mistake of age is not a defense to any degree. The 2024 amendments extended all three degrees to reach AI-modified images of an identifiable minor and child sex dolls.

Two features of these cases drive the defense. First, the unit of prosecution is the individual image. Under State v. Howell, the state can charge one count per file. A single device can therefore generate dozens of counts and, with consecutive sentencing, enormous total exposure. Second, every degree requires that you acted "knowing the character or content of the material," and possession requires knowing possession. Automatic caching, shared devices, and unopened downloads all relate directly to that knowledge element. These cases are also charged federally at a high rate. 1,432 people were sentenced in federal court for child pornography offenses in fiscal year 2025, an 18% increase since FY2021. The average federal child pornography sentence was 118 months (83 months for possession, 156 for trafficking). We build these defenses around knowledge, possession and control of the specific files, and the forensic evidence behind each count.

Online Solicitation of a Minor and Internet-Sting Cases

We defend people arrested in internet-sting operations and charged with solicitation of a child by computer under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202.3. The statute reaches anyone 16 or older who uses an electronic device, with intent to commit an unlawful sex act, to solicit a child under 16 and at least five years younger, or a person they believe to be such a child, to arrange a meeting. Because liability turns on belief, it is no defense under State v. Fraley that the "child" was actually an undercover detective. The offense is a Class G felony. It rises to Class E for a qualifying prior conviction and, after 2025 amendments, to a Class D felony if the defendant or the intended partner actually appears at the arranged meeting place. That is why stings are structured to end in a meet.

The defense in these cases is different from the strict-liability offenses, because the "no real child" fact cannot be relied on. The live defenses are entrapment and proof of intent. Under State v. Keller, an entrapment instruction is required where there is credible evidence that officers induced the offense and the defendant was not predisposed. Importantly, a defendant can deny criminal intent and still get that instruction. These operations are widespread: nationally, ICAC task forces conducted nearly 347,000 investigations that led to more than 17,000 arrests in 2025. We examine who initiated and escalated the contact, whether the messages actually establish intent to commit an unlawful sex act and to arrange a meeting, and how to avoid the Class D "appearance" enhancement.