San Antonio Sexual Assault Attorney

Types of Sexual Assault Charges We Defend in Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, and Kendall Counties

Texas law treats sexual assault as a broad category, and the specific statute behind your charge changes everything from the range of punishment if you’re convicted to the defenses available to you. Our team handles cases across the following charges:

Penalties for a Sexual Assault Conviction in Texas

Texas punishes a sexual assault conviction severely, and the exact range depends on which statute applies and whether the state can prove any aggravating factors:

• Second-degree felony: A conviction under Section 22.011 of the Texas Penal Code carries two to twenty years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
• First-degree felony: A conviction under Section 22.021, aggravated sexual assault, or a sexual assault against someone the actor is legally barred from marrying, carries five to ninety-nine years or life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. For offenses on or after September 1, 2025, the minimum rises to 25 years if the complainant was under 10, or under 14 when certain aggravating factors are alleged.
• Class A misdemeanor: Indecent assault under Section 22.012 carries up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000.
• Sex offender registration: A conviction or deferred adjudication for sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault triggers lifetime registration under Chapter 62 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. A second indecent assault conviction also requires registration.

These ranges show what the law allows, not what happens in most cases. A reduced charge, a favorable plea, or a dismissal can keep you off the registry altogether, which is why the strategy built in the first weeks matters so much.

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Don't Let the Police Write the First Chapter

An accusation is not a conviction, and a police report is not the final word on what happened. Call Fowlks Law Firm now for a free consultation with a San Antonio sexual assault attorney before you make a statement, sign anything, or agree to a polygraph.

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Collateral Consequences Beyond the Courtroom

A conviction reaches well past prison time and fines. Here is what else is often at stake:

• Employment and licensing: Many employers and most professional licensing boards run background checks that flag sex offenses, and a conviction can end a career regardless of the sentence handed down.
• Housing restrictions: Parole and probation conditions, along with some local ordinances, can restrict where a registered person may live, including child-safety zones around schools and parks.
• Family and custody impact: A conviction, or even a pending charge, can be used against you in a custody dispute or a protective order hearing.
• Immigration consequences: Non-citizens convicted of sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault face likely deportation and permanent inadmissibility, regardless of how long they have lived in the United States. If immigration status is part of your situation, we bring in immigration counsel alongside the criminal defense so both sides of the case move together.

Every consequence on this list is a separate reason to fight the charge itself, not only negotiate the sentence.

Defense Strategies in Sexual Assault Cases

Sexual assault cases rarely turn on a single piece of evidence. We build a defense around every weakness in the state's case, including:

1. Consent: When the facts support it, we establish that the encounter was consensual, using text messages, witness accounts, and the timeline of events before and after the alleged incident.
2. False or exaggerated allegations: Custody disputes, breakups, and regret after a consensual encounter can all lead to reports that do not match what actually happened. We investigate the relationship and the motive behind the report, not just the report itself.
3. Mistaken identity: In cases involving strangers, dim lighting, alcohol, or a brief encounter, we challenge how the identification was made and whether the process itself was suggestive.
4. Forensic and DNA issues: DNA evidence needs a proper chain of custody and correct interpretation. Our team works with independent forensic analysts to check the state's lab work rather than accept it at face value.
5. Illegal search and interrogation: If officers searched your phone, home, or car without a valid warrant, or questioned you in custody without the required warnings, we file motions to suppress that evidence before it reaches a jury.
6. Inconsistent statements: Complainants sometimes give different accounts to police, to a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE), and later under oath. We use those inconsistencies to test the reliability of the entire account.
7. Delayed outcry: A report made weeks or months after the alleged incident raises real questions about memory and motive, and we press on that gap wherever it appears.

Which of these defenses fits your case depends entirely on the facts, and we do not know which ones apply until we sit down and go through the police report line by line.

Why Waiting Costs You Ground in a Sexual Assault Case

The time between an accusation and an arrest is not empty time. Here is what can happen while you wait:

• Recorded statements: Investigators may call, text, or ask you to come in "off the record". Nothing said during a sexual assault investigation is ever truly off the record. Some detectives arrange recorded "pretext" calls from the complainant.
• Evidence that fades: Phone location data, text threads, and witness memory all degrade the longer a case sits uninvestigated on your side.
• Protective orders: A complainant can apply for a sexual assault protective order under Chapter 7B of the Code of Criminal Procedure before charges are even filed, and a judge can grant conditions that restrict where you go, where you work, and who you contact.
• Reputational fallout: An arrest report becomes public before a single fact has been tested in court, and employers, schools, and licensing boards often act on the arrest alone.

Every day without a defense attorney is a day the state builds its case without any pushback on the story it's creating.

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The Legal Process in a Sexual Assault Case in Texas

A sexual assault charge in Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, or Kendall County typically moves through the following stages:

1. Investigation: Detectives may interview witnesses, request a SANE exam, or pull phone and social media records before you know you are a suspect. Anything you say during this stage can become the centerpiece of the state's case.
2. Arrest and booking: You will be processed at the county jail where you are arrested. Fowlks Law Firm is approved to post bonds directly for its clients in Bexar County, with approval in Comal and Guadalupe counties underway, so your family doesn't have to wait on a third-party bondsman.
3. Bond hearing: A magistrate must see you within 48 hours and sets bond, often with conditions like no contact with the complainant, electronic monitoring, or surrender of your passport. On aggravated sexual assault, the State may ask the court to deny bail entirely under the 2025 Proposition 3 amendment.
4. Protective order proceedings: The complainant may separately apply for a protective order, which runs alongside the criminal case and needs its own defense strategy.
5. Grand jury review: Felony sexual assault charges go before a grand jury, which generally hears the state's evidence to decide whether to indict.
6. Arraignment: If you are indicted, you enter a plea, almost always not guilty at this stage, to preserve every option while we review the state's file.
7. Discovery: We obtain the police report, the SANE exam results, forensic lab reports, and every witness statement the state intends to use against you.
8. Pre-trial motions: We file to suppress illegally obtained evidence, exclude unreliable testimony, or challenge the sufficiency of the state's case.
9. Plea negotiations: Some cases resolve through a reduced charge to a non-registerable offense.
10. Trial: If a plea does not serve your interests, we take the case before a jury and hold the state to its burden on every element of the charge.
11. Sentencing or appeal: If you are convicted, we argue for the minimum sentence the law allows and evaluate every ground for appeal.