Sex crime defense in Modesto
Sex-crime cases are unlike any other category of criminal defense. The investigation typically begins long before an arrest. The decisions made during that quiet window — who's spoken to, what's said, what's preserved — often determine whether charges are filed at all.
If a detective has reached out, or you've heard that a complaint has been made, do not respond on your own. Do not write or call the complaining party. Do not try to "clear it up." Call.
Why charging-side experience matters in these cases
Matthew Begoun was a Deputy DA in Stanislaus County before opening this practice. Sex-crime cases come into a DA's office through a careful process — interviews, SART exam reviews, pretext-call evaluation, and supervisor review before charges are filed. That review is also where the defense has its best opportunity to influence the outcome, by submitting evidence and context to the DA before a charging decision is made.
Knowing the steps that decision actually goes through — what the filing deputy is told to look for, which factors push a case toward filing or rejection, and where a case requires supervisor sign-off — is the difference between presenting a credible pre-charge submission and presenting a hopeful one.
What we handle
- PC 261 — Rape, including rape by force, fear, or incapacity.
- PC 288 — Lewd or lascivious acts on a child.
- PC 288.4, 288.3 — Arranging a meeting / contacting a minor with intent.
- PC 311 — Possession or distribution of child sexual abuse material. Often charged in the federal system as well.
- PC 243.4 — Sexual battery. Wobbler.
- PC 243(e)(1) and PC 273.5 when alleged in a domestic context.
- PC 647(j) — "Revenge porn" and unauthorized recording.
- PC 290 registration disputes, including litigation over tier classification and removal petitions under the tiered registration law.
The pre-charge phase
Most sex-crime investigations begin with one of two things: a report to law enforcement (often through a SART exam at a hospital) or a "pretext call" — a recorded call from the complaining party in which detectives hope to capture an admission.
Before charges are filed, the investigators have leverage and time. They can interview neighbors, friends, and family. They can serve search warrants. They can pull phones, social-media accounts, and cloud backups. Most of all, they can wait for the suspect to talk to them — or to text the complaining party in a way that helps them.
The pre-charge phase is where defense work has the most leverage:
- A measured response to investigators, through counsel.
- A preservation memo to the client's own communications.
- An investigation that surfaces motive, prior inconsistent statements, and context the detective hasn't asked about.
- In some cases, presenting exculpatory evidence to the DA before a charging decision — a real, narrow tool that can keep a case from being filed.
What I look at first
- The complaining party's statements over time. Initial outcry to a friend, statement to law enforcement, SART exam history, follow-up interviews. Inconsistencies aren't always defenses, but they matter.
- Forensic interviews of minors. California uses CAC interviews; their structure has known limitations.
- Digital evidence. Texts, dating-app messages, photos with metadata, location data, and account login histories are routinely available and routinely misread.
- DNA and SART evidence. What's there, what isn't, and what each fact actually proves.
- Motive. Custody disputes, breakups, family conflict, and immigration consequences (U-visa applications) sometimes shape what gets reported and how.
Registration
Under California's tiered registration law (PC 290.5), most registrants fall into Tier 1 (10 years), Tier 2 (20 years), or Tier 3 (lifetime). Some convictions are removable from the registry by petition after the minimum period. Some are not. The plea decisions made now shape whether registration is mandatory, discretionary, or avoidable through alternative charges.
Collateral consequences
These cases reach further into a client's life than almost any other category.
- Employment. Most professional licenses, teaching credentials, and federally regulated jobs do not survive a conviction.
- Housing. Registration restrictions — and tenant background checks — limit where a registrant can live.
- Family law. Custody, visitation, and contact restrictions follow the criminal case into family court.
- Immigration. Most sex-offense convictions are deportable. Some are inadmissible.
- Federal exposure. Cases involving minors and digital evidence can be charged federally with very different sentencing.
What to do now
- Don't communicate with the complaining party. Not "to clarify," not "to apologize," not "just one message."
- Preserve your records. Phones, laptops, accounts. Don't delete anything. Don't hand devices over without counsel.
- Don't talk to detectives, including by phone or text, without counsel.