Interviewer: What are the different levels of sex crimes from the lowest to the highest that you have received?

Tom Chaves: In my practice, I’ve seen a variety of sex crimes. Recently, I had a somewhat unusual case where an individual who went to the supermarket with his iPhone for the purpose of shooting an up-skirt video. He went to the supermarket, which is an unusual place to think of even doing that, found some woman that he was following around the super market and he shot a two or three seconds up-skirt video where he snuck up behind her and photographed underneath her skirt. This particular woman had a long skirt on and he was subsequently indicted for invading her privacy.

The Current Legislation for Sex Crimes in New Jersey Does Not Cover Innovative Offenses Such as Up Skirt Videos

What’s interesting about that case is that we may be able to prevail on the case because the law, the way that it’s written, did not really foresee that people would have the ability to do up-skirt videos. For it to be the criminal offense that this individual was charged with, it has to be a photographing of her intimate parts.

The Spectrum of Sex Crimes Varies from Non Serious Offenses Like Up Skirt Videos to Serious Offenses Such as Sexual Abuse of a Minor

I recently handled a first degree felony case involving an individual who lived with his wife and her two children and was accused of having a longstanding sexual relationship with his wife’s daughter who actually in fact he had legally adopted. So, in fact it was his own daughter, you could say, because legally she was his daughter starting at age 12 going forward till age 16 when she made a complaint about it. That is a first degree offense. So, I mean the broad range of different types of cases goes from that up-skirt video at one end of the spectrum to a very serious alleged sexual relationship situation between a father and a daughter.

People Are Contesting Their Necessity for Being in the Megan’s Law List

Recently I’ve had several cases that have come to me that are fall under the Megan’s Law category where people are contesting their necessity for being on the Megan’s Law list.