One of the most frequently cited criticisms of the practice of handing down harsh sentences for sex offenses is that many defendants in sex crime cases have themselves been victims of sex crimes.
More recently, Texas has expanded its use of programs such as deferred adjudication and sex offender rehabilitation. These options are based on the assumption that it is better to help people with previous sex crime cases avoid the opportunity or the inclination to commit sex offenses in the future than simply to isolate people with sex crime convictions from the public or to make them objects of humiliation. Some of them have already experienced plenty of embarrassment in their lives by the time a police officer reads them the Miranda warnings. Of course, people are unlikely to pay attention to these subtleties unless you go out of your way to explain them.
A Texas sex crime attorney can help protect you from a criminal justice system whose first instinct is to treat you like a monster instead of a survivor of abuse.
Grayson County Woman Gets 12 Years in Prison for Her Role in Sex Trafficking of a Minor
This story began in the early 2000s when Joylette Blanton was a teenager. She felt alone in the world, and she made the youthfully unwise decision to place her trust in Robert Franklin, who instructed her to engage in commercial sex for his financial gain. In 2020, Blanton and Franklin lived together in an apartment in Sherman; Blanton’s children also lived with them.
The story the media told begins in the fall of 2020 when a 15-year-old girl ran away from home in Tulsa and ended up in northern Texas, eventually moving in with Blanton and Franklin. The cycle of sex trafficking repeated itself. The two would transport the girl to hotels to meet men for commercial sex.
After Franklin was jailed on drug charges, Blanton continued arranging meetings between the victim and clients and transporting the victim to meet the clients. Blanton would allegedly also negotiate with clients about prices before bringing the victim to them; she apparently remained in contact with Franklin during this time.
Blanton was arrested in 2021 and charged with sex trafficking conspiracy. In the fall of 2022, Blanton received a sentence of 12 years in prison. The judge said that Blanton’s decision to continue to associate with Franklin was a factor in this long prison sentence.
Prison sentences of upwards of a decade are possible even for sex crimes where no one is accusing you of ever having made physical contact with a victim. Don’t assume that you do not need a lawyer just because there are worse sex crimes out there than the one you are being accused of.
Contact the Law Office of Patrick J. McLain, PLLC, About Sex Crime Cases
A Dallas criminal defense attorney can help you if you are facing charges for a sex offense, even though you are a survivor of sex trafficking. Contact the Law Office of Patrick J. McLain, PLLC, in Dallas, Texas, to discuss your case.