Sex Crime Defense

Few accusations carry the weight of a sex crime allegation. Long before a jury ever hears the word 'guilty,' the accusation alone can cost you your job, your family, your reputation, and your standing in the community. In California these cases are prosecuted aggressively, they often turn on a single person's word, and a conviction can attach consequences — including lifetime or tiered sex-offender registration — that follow you for decades. This is not a matter to face alone, and it is not one to face quietly hoping it goes away.

Boyadzhyan Legal Shield defends people accused of sex offenses throughout Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley with the discretion these cases demand. Founding attorney Knarik Boyadzhyan is a former Deputy Public Defender who began her career as a paralegal in the United States Department of Justice's Violent and Organized Crime Section. She has handled serious felony matters at every stage and understands how the prosecution builds a sex-crimes case — the forensic interviews, the pretext calls, the digital forensics — and where those cases break down.

The most important thing many people do not realize is that the defense can begin before charges are ever filed. If you have learned you are under investigation — a detective has called, an accuser has confronted you, or you have been asked to 'come in and talk' — that window is where cases are quietly resolved, declined, or reduced most effectively. What you do in the days after you first suspect an investigation can matter more than anything that happens later in a courtroom.

From the first confidential call, our focus is protecting you: preserving your right to remain silent, getting ahead of the investigation, scrutinizing the evidence and the accuser's account, and pursuing the best available outcome — a decision not to file, a dismissal, a reduction, or an acquittal at trial. A serious accusation is not a conviction, and it is not the end of your story.

The single most valuable thing a defense attorney can do in a sex-crime case often happens before any charge is filed. In California, when a report is made, detectives investigate and then present the case to the District Attorney or City Attorney, who decides whether — and what — to charge. That pre-filing window is where a skilled defense has the most leverage, and most people forfeit it by talking to investigators or waiting to see what happens.

Do not agree to be interviewed, and do not accept a call from your accuser without understanding that it may be a monitored 'pretext' call designed to capture an incriminating statement. You have the right to remain silent and the right to counsel. Exercising those rights is not evidence of guilt — it is the sensible response of anyone facing a life-altering accusation.

When we are retained early, we can contact investigators on your behalf, control the flow of information, preserve evidence that may otherwise disappear, and present exculpatory facts and context directly to the prosecutor before a filing decision is made. In some cases that intervention results in charges being declined, filed as a lesser offense, or resolved without the public spectacle of an arrest and arraignment. Even when charges are ultimately filed, an early start means we are ready from day one rather than scrambling to catch up.

California punishes sex offenses more severely than almost any other category of crime, and the consequences reach well beyond a jail or prison sentence. Depending on the charge, exposure can include county jail or lengthy state prison terms, substantial fines, formal probation or parole, mandatory counseling, protective orders, and — the consequence that defines these cases — sex-offender registration.

Many sex offenses are 'wobblers,' meaning the prosecutor can charge them as either a misdemeanor or a felony based on the facts and your record. Because the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony can determine whether you face jail or prison, whether you must register, and for how long, how a case is charged and negotiated is often as important as the underlying facts.

The most serious offenses can fall under California's One Strike Law (Penal Code § 667.61), which imposes dramatically enhanced sentences — up to 15 or 25 years to life — for certain sex crimes committed under aggravating circumstances such as the use of a weapon, kidnapping, or multiple victims. Beyond the sentence itself, a conviction can carry collateral consequences that last a lifetime: loss of firearm rights, immigration consequences that can include deportation for non-citizens, restrictions on where you can live and work, damage to professional licenses, and the public stigma of the registry. These stakes are exactly why an aggressive, meticulous defense matters from the very first day.

For most people accused of a sex crime, registration is the consequence they fear most — and for good reason. California's Sex Offender Registration Act (Penal Code § 290) requires people convicted of qualifying offenses to register with law enforcement, keep that registration current, and — for many offenses — appear in a public database. Registration can restrict where you live and work and follows you across every move.

Until recently, California registration was effectively for life for nearly everyone. That changed on January 1, 2021, when a tiered system took effect. Convictions are now generally sorted into three tiers with different minimum registration periods: Tier 1 (a minimum of 10 years), Tier 2 (a minimum of 20 years), and Tier 3 (lifetime). For Tier 1 and Tier 2 offenses, a person may petition the court for removal from the registry after completing the minimum period and meeting the requirements — a meaningful path to relief that did not exist before. The tiers are summarized in the table above.

Which tier applies — or whether registration is required at all — depends on the exact offense of conviction. That is precisely why the defense strategy is not only about avoiding a conviction but, where a conviction cannot be avoided, about resolving the case to a charge that carries the least severe registration consequence or none at all. Understanding this tiered framework, including the post-2021 petition process, is central to how we approach every sex-crime case, and it is an area many general-practice firms handle superficially.

Boyadzhyan Legal Shield is based in Encino on Ventura Boulevard and defends sex-crime cases throughout the San Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles — Sherman Oaks, Tarzana, Van Nuys, Woodland Hills, Studio City, Northridge, and the surrounding communities. We understand that in a case this sensitive, discretion is not a courtesy; it is part of the defense. We handle these matters privately and professionally at every step.

If you were arrested or are under investigation in the Valley, your case is very likely to be handled at the Van Nuys Courthouse, which hears criminal cases for the San Fernando Valley, and prosecuted by the local filing offices that cover the Valley. Serious felony sex offenses are typically filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, while certain misdemeanors may be handled by the City Attorney — and knowing how these cases are actually charged and resolved in the Valley, rather than downtown, is an advantage an out-of-area firm cannot offer. We appear in Van Nuys and the surrounding Los Angeles County courts regularly, and we bring that local knowledge to every stage of your defense.