How Can a Sex Crime Accusation Affect My Employment and Personal Life in Missouri? A sex crime accusation can have significant, far-reaching, and long-lasting effects on your personal and professional life in Missouri, even prior to any legal verdict being reached. Combs Waterkotte is here to help.
If you have been accused of a sex crime in St. Louis or anywhere else in Missouri, contact an expert criminal defense lawyer immediately at (314) 900-HELP or reach out online for a free, confidential consultation where you can discuss the specifics of your case. Our skilled legal team is available 24/7, and has successfully handled over 10,000 cases just like yours.
How Can a Sex Crime Accusation Affect My Employment and Personal Life in Missouri?
Here’s how a mere accusation of a sex crime can affect your employment and personal life:
Impact on Employment
- Job Loss: If your employer becomes aware of the accusation, you could lose your job, particularly if your position requires a clean criminal record or involves working with vulnerable populations.
- License Revocation: If you work in a field requiring professional licensing – healthcare, education, law, accounting, real estate, cosmetology, and more – an accusation may lead to the suspension or revocation of your license, possibly ending your career in that field. While occupational licensing boards in St. Louis and elsewhere in Missouri can only disqualify applicants if they have been convicted of a sexual or violent crime, this doesn’t apply to teachers, medical licenses, and multiple other professions. In these cases a simple charge, not a conviction, might suffice. More than one out of every five workers in Missouri must now get a license before they can legally do their jobs.
- Difficulty Finding Future Employment: If convicted, you may be required to register as a sex offender, severely limiting your job prospects. Most employers run background checks, and many companies are hesitant to hire individuals with sex crime convictions.
Impact on Personal Life
- Social Stigma: Being accused of a sex crime carries a strong social stigma, one that may be tough to shake and ongoing. You might find yourself ostracized by family, friends, coworkers, and your community, regardless of your guilt or innocence. The mere allegation can damage your reputation and relationships.
- Child Custody and Visitation: If you have children, a sex crime accusation can affect your custody and visitation rights. The court might restrict or deny access to your kids based on concerns for their safety.
- Restrictions on Living Arrangements: If convicted, you may face restrictions on where you can live. Under Missouri Revised Statutes § 566.147, sex offenders can’t live within 1,000 feet of schools or childcare facilities.
- Other Possible Restrictions: If convicted, being placed on Missouri’s sex offender registry means your name, photo, and details of your conviction are openly accessible to the public. Also, you can’t be within 500 feet of a public park, swimming pool, athletic complex, museum, or nature center that exists primarily for use by children, along with a multitude of Halloween restrictions.
The long-term impact of a sex crime accusation can be devastating, no matter the outcome of your case. It’s essential to work with an experienced sex crime defense attorney who can protect your rights, help you navigate the legal system, and work toward minimizing the personal and professional damage an accusation can cause.
Call Combs Waterkotte right now at (314) 900-HELP or contact us online for a free case review.
