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Court Looks at Elements of Sexual Abuse

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The People of the State of New York are the plaintiffs in a case against the defendant Stan Miller. This case is being heard in front of the Criminal Court of the City of New York in Kings County. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the defendant in the case has been charged with attempted sexual abuse in the second degree, attempted sexual assault in the third degree, unlawful imprisonment in the second degree, harassment in the second degree, and endangering the welfare of a child. The defendant has moved to have the charges against him dismissed.

Case Facts

The complaint in this case comes from a thirteen year old girl. The defendant is a teacher at the child’s school. On the day that the incident occurred the defendant walked the child to his home. The child wanted to leave the defendant’s home and the defendant proceeded to block the doorway and would not let her leave. The child states that the defendant asked her for a kiss and she said no. She says that he moved his face into close proximity of hers and tried to kiss her. These actions caused the child to become alarmed and annoyed.

The complaint further states that at the time of the incident the complainant was just two months shy of her fourteenth birthday. Discovery materials in the case show that the defendant was actually the child’s substitute teacher at the time of the incident.

Defendant Argument

The defendant argues that the complaint against him is insufficient for two reasons. First, he says that according to the allegations made in the case he did not aggressively pursue the complainant and he stopped all activity when she said no. A Staten Island Criminal Lawyer said he further argues that the act of moving his face close to hers is insufficiently aggressive to constitute sexual abuse. Second, he argues that in the context of the allegations the mouth should not be considered as a sexual part of the body used to establish attempted sexual contact.

Court Discussion and Decision

The People argue that the complaint made against the defendant is a sufficient argument for the proceeding. The Court has considered each of the arguments made by the defendant separately.

First, the counsel for the defendant states that he only was asking for a kiss and that is not rise to sexual abuse. However, the court finds that this argument is flawed in that the statutes that the defendant has been charged on do not require aggressive conduct, but merely show that that the defendant attempted to make nonconsensual sexual contact.

The complaint alleges that the defendant blocked the complainant from leaving the premises. This alleged conduct is enough to constitute the argument for the alleged crimes.

Finally, in the case regarding attempted sexual abuse there does not have to be any contact between the defendant and the victim in order to be convicted of this crime. A New York Sex Crimes Lawyer said the defendant is being accused of attempted sexual assault, which is alleged in the complaint that was made.

For these reasons, the motion for dismissal by the defendant is denied. However, the defendant reserves the right to make further motions in the case in the future.

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