Frisco Sex Crimes Defense

When a Detective Calls Asking for “Your Side”

Day One: A Voicemail You Didn’t Expect

It starts with a voicemail on a weekday afternoon. A detective with the Frisco Police Department says there’s “a matter” they’d like to clear up, and asks you to stop by headquarters to give your side. The tone is friendly. It sounds routine.

It isn’t. In most sex offense investigations, the detective has already spent weeks on the case before that call. A child may have said something to a school counselor, and the counselor, required by law to report it, called Child Protective Services. A forensic interview has been recorded. A former partner may have made an allegation in the middle of a divorce or custody fight. By the time you hear from police, they usually have a theory, and the interview they’re offering is a chance to confirm it with your own words.

Many people are never arrested until after that interview. Others learn about the case only when a warrant is served at their home or job. Either way, what you do in the first days matters more than in almost any other kind of criminal case.

Your First 24 Hours: A Crisis Checklist

Do not return the detective’s call or agree to an interview until you have spoken with a defense lawyer. A polite “my attorney will contact you” is enough.
Do not agree to a polygraph, a “pretext” phone call, or a voluntary DNA swab or phone search without legal advice.
Do not contact the accuser or their family, directly or through anyone else, by text, social media, or in person.
Do not delete texts, photos, accounts, or files from any phone or computer. Deleting can be charged as evidence tampering and looks like guilt.
If CPS contacts you about a child in your home, call a lawyer before agreeing to a safety plan or interview. What you say to CPS can reach the prosecutor.
Write down, for your lawyer only, the names of anyone who was present, dates, and where you were.

The Texas Statutory Reality: What You Could Be Charged With

Most sex offense accusations in Collin County are felonies. The grade depends on the act alleged and, above all, the age of the accuser.

Offense	Statute	Grade	Punishment range
Continuous sexual abuse of a young child	Penal Code § 21.02	Special felony	25 to 99 years or life, no parole
Aggravated sexual assault	Penal Code § 22.021	First-degree felony	5 to 99 years or life; 25-year minimum in some child cases
Sexual assault (including of a child under 17)	Penal Code § 22.011	Second-degree felony	2 to 20 years
Indecency with a child by contact	Penal Code § 21.11(a)(1)	Second-degree felony	2 to 20 years
Indecency with a child by exposure	Penal Code § 21.11(a)(2)	Third-degree felony	2 to 10 years
Online solicitation of a minor	Penal Code § 33.021	Felony	Grade depends on the conduct and age alleged
Possession of child sexual abuse material	Penal Code § 43.26	Third-degree felony at minimum	Rises with the number of images and other factors

Each of these felonies can also carry a fine of up to $10,000.

No clock runs out. Texas has no statute of limitations for most child sex offenses, including indecency with a child and sexual assault of a child (Code of Criminal Procedure art. 12.01). An accusation about something alleged to have happened 15 years ago can still be prosecuted.

The accuser’s words can be the whole case. In child cases, the first adult the child told (the “outcry witness”) may repeat the child’s statement in court (art. 38.072). Prosecutors may also offer evidence of other alleged acts (art. 38.37). Many cases have no physical evidence at all, which makes careful cross-examination and investigation the core of the defense.

How a Collin County Sex Offense Case Moves

The report. A school, doctor, family member, or the accuser contacts police or CPS. Frisco officers take the report, and a detective is assigned.
The forensic interview. When a child is involved, the child is usually interviewed on video at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County in Plano, often with a detective watching from another room.
The investigation. The detective may request medical exam records, search warrants for phones and accounts, and an interview with you. This stage can last weeks or months, and it is the best time to have a lawyer involved.
Arrest and bond. A warrant is issued and bond is set, usually with strict conditions (below).
The grand jury. A felony can’t go to trial without an indictment. Before the grand jury votes, your attorney can present evidence and the defense’s account to the prosecutor.
District Court. If indicted, the case is heard in a Collin County District Court at the Russell A. Steindam Courts Building, 2100 Bloomdale Road, McKinney.

Frisco spans two counties. Homes in Phillips Creek Ranch and much of The Fields are on the Denton County side, where the case would be filed in Denton County instead. Confirm the county before anything else.

Living Under Bond Conditions

Bond in a sex offense case usually comes with conditions that reshape daily life. When the accuser is a child, Texas law lets the magistrate bar any contact with the child and keep you away from places where children commonly gather (Code of Criminal Procedure art. 17.41). Conditions can also include:

No contact with the accuser or members of their household
Moving out of a shared home
Supervised visits only, or none, with your own children
GPS monitoring and limits on internet use

A violation can mean a new arrest and a revoked bond. If a condition makes work or family life impossible, ask your attorney about requesting a modification instead of ignoring it.

The Consequences That Outlast the Sentence

Registration. A conviction, or deferred adjudication, for most of the offenses above requires registration as a sex offender under Chapter 62 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. For many offenses registration lasts for life. Registrants must report changes in address, job, and online identifiers, and failing to comply is a separate felony.

Deferred adjudication is limited. For indecency with a child, sexual assault, and aggravated sexual assault, a judge may grant deferred adjudication only after finding in open court that it is in the victim’s best interest. It is not available at all for continuous sexual abuse or for some aggravated sexual assault charges (art. 42A.102).

The record stays visible. An order of nondisclosure, which seals many records in Texas, is not available for an offense that requires registration.

Beyond court. Professional licenses, immigration status, custody, and where you can live can all be affected.

What We Examine in the State’s Case

The forensic interview. Was the interview recorded in full? Were questions open-ended, or did they suggest answers? How does the child’s account compare with the outcry, the police report, and any later statements?
How the accusation surfaced. Did it come out during a divorce, a custody fight, a breakup, or a school discipline issue? Timing and motive matter, and so does who talked to the accuser before police did.
Medical and physical evidence. Does a medical exam support the allegation, show nothing, or contradict it? Is there DNA, and was it tested and handled properly?
Digital evidence. Do the full message threads, not selected screenshots, tell a different story? Were phones and accounts searched within the limits of the warrant?
Your own statements. Were you questioned without warnings while in custody? Was a recorded “pretext” call misleading?
Consent and age. For an adult accuser, consent is often the central issue. For a child under 17, consent is not a defense, apart from a narrow age-gap defense for some teen relationships, so the focus is on whether the alleged act happened at all.

Before the Grand Jury Votes

The weeks before indictment are often the best opportunity in the whole case. Your attorney can gather records, interview witnesses, preserve messages and location data before they are lost, and present a defense packet to the prosecutor. Some cases are declined or reduced at this stage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I talk to the detective to clear things up?

Not without a lawyer. The interview is designed to gather evidence for the case, and anything you say can be used to support charges. Your attorney can decide whether, when, and how your side is presented.

Can the charges be dropped if the accuser takes it back?

Not automatically. The State brings the case, not the accuser. A recantation is evidence your attorney can use, but prosecutors may continue. Never ask anyone to recant or pass messages to the accuser; that can lead to a witness tampering charge.

Is there a deadline for the State to file charges?

For most child sex offenses, no. Texas has no statute of limitations for indecency with a child or sexual assault of a child.

Will I have to register as a sex offender?

For most of the offenses on this page, a conviction or deferred adjudication requires registration, often for life. Avoiding a registrable outcome is a central goal of the defense.

What does a Romeo and Juliet defense mean in Texas?

Texas law has a narrow defense for some sexual contact between teenagers close in age, when the younger person was at least 14 and the accused was no more than three years older. It has strict conditions, so it needs careful review.

My case is in Denton County, not Collin. Can you help?

Yes. We defend clients in both Collin County and Denton County courts, including Frisco residents on either side of the county line.

Talk to a Lawyer Before You Talk to Police

The investigation, the grand jury, and the prosecutor’s first view of your case are all moving before most people hire a lawyer. Al Rowland has defended clients in Collin and Denton County courts since 2015 and is a member of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Call (469) 895-6555 or request a free, confidential consultation. Law Office of Al Rowland, PLLC, 6160 Warren Pkwy, Suite 100, Frisco, TX 75034.

This page provides general information, not legal advice. Every case depends on its own facts.