Child (criminal) Abuse Cases: Strategic Representation
If you have been accused of child abuse, you should hire an experienced criminal defense attorney to help you fight the charges.
At Pearson & Paris, we have more than 22 years of legal experience that we will use in your defense. Perhaps more importantly, our top criminal defense attorney is a former senior felony prosecutor who knows how the prosecutors handle these cases. That knowledge allows us to create effective strategies ranging from negotiating plea bargains to waging full on court battles.
What is Criminal Abuse?
In Kentucky, child abuse is referred to as Criminal Abuse, and the Kentucky Penal Code contains three categories of this crime.
Criminal Abuse in the First Degree generally occurs when a person intentionally abuses another person thereby causes serious physical injury, cruel confinement, or cruel punishment to a child twelve years of age or less. Criminal Abuse in the First Degree is a Class C felony, K.R.S. § 508.100, and it is punishable by a sentence of imprisonment of not less than 5 years nor more than 10 years.
Criminal Abuse in the Second Degree generally occurs when a person wantonly abuses another person thereby causes serious physical injury, cruel confinement, or cruel punishment to a child twelve years of age or less. Criminal Abuse in the Second Degree is a Class D felony, K.R.S. § 508.110, and it is punishable by a sentence of imprisonment of not less than 1 years nor more than 5 years.
Criminal Abuse in the Third Degree generally occurs when a person recklessly abuses another person thereby causes serious physical injury, cruel confinement, or cruel punishment to a child twelve years of age or less. Criminal Abuse in the Third Degree is a Class A misdemeanor, K.R.S. § 508.120, and it is punishable by a sentence of imprisonment of no more than 12 months.
Possible Defenses for Criminal Abuse
Kentucky recognizes that a parent, guardian, or other person entrusted with the care and supervision of a minor or an incompetent person, or when the defendant is a teacher or other person entrusted with the care and supervision of a minor may under certain circumstances use physical force upon such minor child.
Other defenses may also apply. This includes an analysis of any violation of constitutional rights such as the right to remain silent, the right to counsel, the right to have any searches and seizures based on probable cause, a proper warrant, and the right to due process in the proper preservation of evidence that may be used against you. Many other defenses are available that rely on scrutinizing and exposing weaknesses in the prosecutor’s case, such as biased or incompetent witnesses, flawed crime scene investigation, flawed administration and procedures in collecting breath, blood, or urine for forensic testing, incompetent computer evidence, flawed photo lineups, and inaccurate crime scene/accident reconstructions.
It is important that you hire a skilled and experienced lawyer to defend you in a child abuse case in Middletown, Jefferson County, or across Kentucky.
Call us at 502-688-5200 in the Greater Louisville area and across Kentucky.
Contact Our Firm in La Grange, Kentucky for an initial consultation
For an initial consultation with a Louisville criminal law attorney, contact Pearson & Paris. We represent clients throughout Trimble, Henry, Oldham, Jefferson, Shelby, and Spencer counties in such cities as Louisville, St. Matthews, Lyndon, Prospect, Anchorage, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Shively, Crestwood, Goshen, Buckner, La Grange, Simpsonville, Shelbyville, Mt. Washington and Shepherdsville.