22 Apr Maryland criminal appeals: Man challenges his conviction

On behalf of Jack B. Rubin, PA posted in Criminal Appeals on Monday, April 22, 2013.

Criminal appeals can seem extremely challenging for those Maryland residents who have already dealt with being convicted of criminal charges. However, while criminal appeals may present a challenge, they are a vital part of the American justice system and not impossible to win. One Maryland man who formerly served as a school worker is appealing the conviction he was handed for sexual abuse of a child based upon the grounds that no physical contact ever took place.

The 41-year-old man was convicted back in 2011 after being criminally charged in relation to letters he apparently sent to an 8-year-old girl. Authorities convicted him of both sexual abuse of a minor in addition to attempted sexual abuse, despite the fact that the man only wrote letters to the child. His attorney is now arguing that it is an injustice to jail him for these crimes since he neither molested the girl nor committed any sexual exploitation against her.

A judge in the original case, however, ruled that sexual acts do not necessarily have to be physical acts against a person. According to the judge, if one took the group of letters in their entire context, they were certainly inappropriate and of a sexual nature. Some have alleged that this man is the first to have actually been convicted of this type of sex crime when no actual sexual contact occurred between the two parties in the case.

There is little doubt that criminal appeals such as this typically take a significant amount of determination to pursue. However, it also seems clear that they can be worth pursuing, especially in cases where Maryland residents feel they have been unfairly convicted. Those who have been convicted of a crime and disagree with the ruling may be able to pursue appeals in court that could potentially lead to a more favorable outcome in the future.

Source: The Baltimore Sun, “Former Howard County school aide appeals sex abuse conviction,” Andrea F. Siegel, April 5, 2013