Your Child Faces Criminal Sexual Assault Charges After a Campus Investigation: What Happens Now in PA?
The escalation of a college campus sexual assault investigation often takes both the accused and their parent(s) by surprise. Your child may have even cooperated with their university’s investigators and campus police—and now that cooperation (including any statements they provided) may be used against them as they face prosecution for a serious criminal offense.
We will discuss what happens next from a legal standpoint, but here is what you should do next to protect your child:
- Contact the LLF Law Firm Criminal Defense Team for information and guidance tailored to your child’s circumstances.
- Dissuade your child from giving any statements or providing any materials to university officials or law enforcement officials until you have conferred with us.
- Trust our guidance, as we have represented many young people facing sexual assault allegations related to their collegiate life.
We stand strong for parents and their children, leveraging our training and experience in these complex legal circumstances. Call the LLF Law Firm Criminal Defense Team today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online to start composing your child’s sexual assault defense strategy.
Important note: This information covers Pennsylvania criminal proceedings, not any Title IX grievance process.
What Happens After a Student Is Formally Charged with Sexual Assault in Pennsylvania?
First, let’s assume your child has already experienced a university-specific investigative process, with Pennsylvania College of Technology’s procedural example showing how that process often unfolds. This process may not be over, and thatis another reason to engage our protection.
The criminal proceedings ahead differ from that university process, though the two may connect through shared evidence, testimony, and documentation.
Based on Pennsylvania laws and our real-world experience as attorneys handling these cases, here is how the criminal adjudication process generally progresses:
- Depending on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the university police department and the municipal police department, one or multiple law enforcement agencies may be involved in the investigative and prosecutorial process. The University of Scranton’s policy explains that these MOUs detail “cooperation, mutual support, and information and resource sharing” between such police departments.
- A Magisterial District Judge (MDJ) will receive and review the Criminal Complaint and Affidavit of Probable Cause from the investigating officer, then likely issue an arrest warrant or summons.
- Your child will need to appear for preliminary arraignment in court, where the MDJ will inform them of the charges and decide bail conditions.
- Your child will then appear for a preliminary hearing, where the MDJ will determine whether the prosecution successfully met the prima facie standard to advance the case to the county’s designated trial court.
- A Court of Common Pleas Judge will handle the remainder of the criminal legal proceedings, including but not limited to formal arraignment, ruling on pre-trial motions, any subsequent hearings, plea negotiations, and trial and sentencing (should the case lead to trial)
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh handle this process a bit differently, assigning initial proceedings to municipal court judges rather than an MDJ.
Keep in mind that the university’s disciplinary proceedings may also be ongoing. This alone places your child under immediate threat. Engage our team right away so your student avoids any devastating missteps that may compromise their criminal defense.
Many nuances and sub-developments often prove critical to the outcome of sexual assault cases. Trust our team, and your child’s attorney in particular, to keep you both informed, prepared, and level-headed throughout every stage of the adjudication process.
The Stakes of a Sexual Assault Charge Could Not Be Any Higher. Get Your Child Experienced, Rock-Solid Representation.
An accusation of sexual assault against a college student can become a formal criminal charge of:
- Rape
- Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse
- Sexual assault
- Aggravated indecent assault
- Indecent assault
Rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse are first-degree felonies punishable by up to 20 years in state prison, and perhaps longer if aggravating factors are alleged. Sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault are second-degree felonies, which can garner a ten-year prison sentence.
Then there are the other considerable sanctions that often come with convictions for these offenses, including lifetime registration under Pennsylvania’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, known as SORNA and Megan’s Law.
Parents are often frozen in shock when they discover their child has been formally charged, but now is the time to act. Call the LLF Law Firm Criminal Defense Team today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online for advocacy and answers from a team extensively experienced in Pennsylvania sexual assault representation.