Sometimes, men will talk to an undercover detective posing as a child and plan a meeting. However, the defendant will sometimes get cold feet and thus not show up. At this point, the defendant may think that he has done nothing wrong and if arrested, will continue to plead this defense. The Appellate Division dealt with this very issue in State v. Davis, 390 N.J. Super 573 (App Div.) cert denied 192 N.J. 599 (2007). In that case, the court held that the very planning of the meeting was a substantial step and thus, the crime was committed already at that point.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t other defenses available such as entrapment, mistake and identity. Furthermore, even in cases where the defendant is clearly guilty and there are no defenses present, we have been very successful in keeping our clients out of prison.  If you are charged with attempted sexual assault in New Jersey, call us today.