Sex Crimes Lawyer in Tempe, AZ

In Tempe, these investigations generally belong to the police department's Special Victims Unit, part of the Major Crimes Section in the Investigations Division. The unit's own page says it investigates crimes against children and adults involving sexual assault, sexual abuse, public sexual indecency, sexual conduct with a minor, molestation and indecent exposure, along with other sexually motivated offenses. The same section also lists a Family Crimes Unit.

The unit's page makes one more point that matters to the defense: a person does not need to make a police report to obtain a forensic nurse exam. Medical documentation can therefore exist before, or apart from, any police contact. If an exam took place, its records belong on the disclosure request, and the records themselves, not a summary in a report, are where a review starts.

Physical evidence goes through the department's Technical Services Bureau. A July 2025 city release describes the department's Forensic Services Unit after a two-year rebuild, with crime scene specialists whose work includes gathering trace evidence and possible DNA sources. The city's announcement does not say which laboratory performs DNA testing for Tempe cases; the lab report in disclosure will show it.

Interviews of children are usually recorded at an advocacy center using a structured protocol. Tempe's unit page does not say where those interviews happen in its cases, so the disclosure is where that information appears. For the defense, the recording, the form of the questions and any earlier conversations with the child are all part of a careful review.

A first call or business card from a detective usually means interviews have already happened, starting with the person who reported. Investigators sometimes set up a phone conversation between that person and the one accused, and because Arizona lets one party to a call consent to recording it, the accused may never know it was taped. If an unexpected call or text about the allegation arrives, end it courteously, save it and contact a lawyer. Never reach out to the person who made the report yourself, and never send a friend or relative in your place.

A felony sex offense from Tempe is a County Attorney case in most instances, with certain matters going to the Arizona Attorney General's Office. The courtroom is in Superior Court downtown, in the Central Court Building, 201 W. Jefferson St., or the South Court Tower, 175 W. Madison St. Confirm the building on your current notice. Charges arrive through a grand jury or through a complaint tested at a preliminary hearing, and the path after that runs from arraignment to disclosure, motions, and a plea or trial. Some image and online enticement cases are federal instead. Nova Law Group appears in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

A narrower group of cases stays in the city. Indecent exposure to a person 15 or older, without qualifying priors, is a class 1 misdemeanor, as is basic public sexual indecency. Tempe's City Attorney's Criminal Division prosecutes misdemeanors committed in the city, so those charges generally go before Tempe Municipal Court. Registration questions still follow: after a misdemeanor exposure conviction, state law gives the convicting court ten days to alert the police agency that made the arrest, and that agency makes the registration call.

Tempe Police list their own Detention Facility; a person booked into the county jail on a felony has an initial appearance at the Intake, Transfer and Release facility, 2670 S. 28th Dr., Phoenix. Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 4.1 requires that appearance within 24 hours, or release. In sex offense cases, release terms often bar any contact with the person who made the report and can add electronic monitoring, internet limits and rules about time with minors, sometimes including a parent's own children. They take effect immediately, and only the court can modify them. Felony charges carry a right to counsel.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. A set-aside under A.R.S. 13-905 is not available for an offense that requires registration, and a sex offense conviction can restrict professional licenses, work with children or vulnerable adults, housing and immigration status. Because registration follows the exact statute of conviction, the wording of any plea offer matters a great deal.