VA Cops Hunt Sex Offender
On June 3, 2025, Fairfax County law enforcement officers released a picture of a man who, according to investigators, exposed himself on a hiking trail in August 2024.
Officers responded around 6:34 p.m. on Aug. 20, 2024, for the report of sex offense in the 12800 block of Mount Royal Lane, according to a police report. The victim told officers she saw a man masturbating near an area trail.
Investigators asked witnesses to contact the Major Crimes Bureau or submit an anonymous Crime Solvers tip.
Sex Offense Investigations
A sex offense or other criminal investigation that relies on informer tips, suspect photos, and old evidence is often doomed from the start.
Informer tips are only admissible in court if the tip is reliable. The tip’s accuracy is irrelevant for admissibility purposes. Courts consider various factors to determine tip reliability. The source of the tip is the most important factor, as follows:
- Crimestopper and Direct Line Tips: This information is almost per se unreliable, especially if the “informant” remains anonymous. Crimestopper tip lines usually don’t have advanced caller ID functions, so the callers are truly anonymous. So, a Leesburg criminal defense lawyer cannot cross-examine the tipster to determine his/her motives.
- 9-1-1 Tips: This information is somewhat more reliable. 9-1-1 systems usually have advanced caller ID functions that furnish the caller’s name and address, even if the tipster is anonymous. So, an attorney can track down the tipster and determine if s/he wanted to get the defendant in trouble, wanted the reward money, or otherwise had an impure motive.
- Police Tips: We see these situations in search warrant execution disputes, if the executing officers were different than the requesting officers. Although the executing officers often knew nothing about the case, the information their fellow officers provided is almost presumptively reliable.
Photo lineups, especially single-photo lineups, have serious reliability issues. Frequently, witnesses feel pressure to pick someone out of a lineup or agree with the officer that the guy in the picture is the same guy who committed a crime.
All this investigation may be for naught. People relocate frequently, especially if they believe John Law is closing in. So, there’s a good chance investigators are chasing a ghost.
As a side note, if a court issues an arrest warrant, that warrant is valid until served, even if it remains outstanding for months, years, or decades. However, old cases have proof problems. Because the police officer turnover rate is so high, the arresting officer may be unavailable to give critical testimony.
Sex Offense Charges
To a Leesburg criminal defense lawyer, there’s no such thing as a “major” or “minor” sex crime. Most people believe sex offenders are homogenous. In other words, they think a guy behaving inappropriately is as bad as a child rapist.
In Virginia, all sex offenders must publicly register for at least fifteen years. After the waiting period expires, they may apply for removal, but the result is not guaranteed.
Therefore, a Leesburg criminal defense lawyer usually aggressively challenges the state’s evidence at trial, especially in a possession of pornography, indecent exposure, or other Tier I case. Frequently, prosecutors are willing to reduce charges to reckless conduct or another non-sex offense, since Tier I offenses are largely victimless.
Work With a Compassionate Loudoun County Lawyer
There’s a big difference between an arrest and a conviction in criminal law. For a confidential consultation with an experienced criminal defense attorney in Leesburg, contact Simms Showers, LLP, Attorneys at Law. We routinely handle matters throughout Northern Virginia.
Source:
patch.com/virginia/fairfaxcity/photo-indecent-exposure-suspect-greenbriar-released-police
