A statutory rape allegation can put your freedom, reputation, job, and future at risk immediately. In Massachusetts, these cases are prosecuted aggressively and carry severe penalties. If police want to question you, want access to your phone, or have already charged you, speaking with an Andover statutory rape lawyer before you say anything can make a real difference.
At Erkan & Sullivan, PC, we defend people accused of serious sex crimes in Andover and throughout Massachusetts. As former prosecutors, Murat Erkan and Ryan Sullivan investigated and prosecuted hundreds of rape cases, so we know where shortcuts are taken and we know how police and prosecutors can make a weak accusation look polished and persuasive. We also know how to identify the pressure points and expose the weaknesses that can cause a case to come apart.
These cases require early action, careful analysis, and a rape defense team that understands how the Commonwealth builds them.
In Massachusetts, the phrase “statutory rape” usually refers to the offense of rape and abuse of a child under G.L. c. 265, § 23. The statute applies to unlawful sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse with a child under 16 years of age. The statute also provides for extremely serious punishment, including life or any term of years in state prison, or in some circumstances a term in a jail or house of correction. A prosecution under this section cannot be placed on file or continued without a finding.
Massachusetts law is unforgiving in this area. The Commonwealth’s public guidance states that you cannot have sex with someone under 16, even if you are also under 16, and that Massachusetts currently has no Romeo and Juliet exception.
Very serious. A conviction can expose a person to years in custody, and in some cases, life imprisonment. It can also carry collateral consequences that continue long after the criminal case ends, including possible sex offender registration consequences. Massachusetts identifies sex offenses requiring registration on its public guidance pages.
That is why these cases should never be treated casually. The stakes are too high in statutory rape cases, and our attorneys in Andover understand that.
Most of these prosecutions do not begin in a courtroom. They begin with an interview request, a phone seizure, a search of messages or social media, or an investigator claiming he just wants to hear your side. From there, police try to build a narrative from statements, digital records, age evidence, and whatever else they can gather.
Those materials can be powerful. They can also be misleading. Messages get stripped of context. Investigators jump ahead of the facts. A police summary can sound far more certain than the underlying evidence really is. Our job as your statutory rape attorney in Andover is to slow that process down, test what the Commonwealth can actually prove, and identify what was assumed, omitted, or overstated.
In our experience as statutory rape lawyers in Andover, the pressure points are often in the details. The issue may be identity. It may be whether a message means what the police claim it means. It may be whether statements were obtained fairly and lawfully. It may be whether investigators ignored evidence that cut the other way.
A case can look strong in a report and much weaker once the facts are examined carefully. That is why disciplined defense work matters from the beginning.
Former prosecutor experience matters in statutory rape cases because we know how they are screened, how investigators try to corroborate allegations, and how prosecutors in Andover frame the evidence for charging decisions and trial. We also know where they tend to overread facts, gloss over gaps, and rely on stereotypes and assumptions instead of actual facts.
That background helps us spot weaknesses early and act on them.
Do not answer questions. Do not agree to an “informal” interview. Do not hand over your phone, passwords, or account access without legal advice.
Many people damage their case at the beginning because they think cooperation will clear things up. More often, it gives investigators statements and evidence they use to build the prosecution. Early representation from a statutory rape defense lawyer helps protect your rights in Andover and gives the defense a chance to begin its own work before the Commonwealth gets a head start.
If you are under investigation for statutory rape or have already been charged, do not wait for the case to define itself without opposition. Get advice before you speak, before you consent to a search, and before the Commonwealth builds momentum that could have been prevented.
Erkan & Sullivan, PC defends clients accused of rape and abuse of a child and other serious sex offenses in Andover and throughout Massachusetts. If you need an Andover statutory rape lawyer, contact us to discuss your situation and start protecting your future.
(978) 474-0054 