Sexual Assault of a Child Charges in Collin County

This page covers three Texas offenses: sexual assault of a child, aggravated sexual assault of a child, and continuous sexual abuse of a young child. They carry very different exposures. One is a second-degree felony with a possible path to deferred adjudication. Another carries a 25-year minimum with no parole. Which one the Collin County District Attorney files depends on the acts alleged, the child’s age on the dates alleged, whether a single act or a pattern is alleged, any relationship or aggravating circumstance, and the other statutory elements. This page covers the three statutes, what each carries, how these cases are built in Collin County, and what the defense looks at; the Collin County sex crimes defense page covers the wider group of charges.

Kent Starr has practiced criminal defense since 1997 and represents people facing sex-crime charges in Collin County. He is a solo lawyer in McKinney and also represents people facing these charges elsewhere in Texas. The consultation is free and confidential, he takes it himself, and you do not have to explain anything on the phone to schedule it. Call (214) 982-1408.

The Three Offenses and What They Carry

When people say “sexual assault of a child,” they may be describing any of three separate offenses in the Texas Penal Code:

• Sexual assault of a child, Penal Code §22.011(a)(2): child younger than 17. Second-degree felony, 2 to 20 years.
• Aggravated sexual assault of a child, §22.021: child younger than 14, or another aggravating circumstance. First-degree felony, 5 to 99 years or life, with a 25-year minimum in the cases the statute singles out.
• Continuous sexual abuse of a young child, §21.02: two or more acts over 30 days or more, child younger than 14. First-degree felony, 25-year minimum, no parole.

The Collin County District Attorney decides which of these to present to the grand jury, and that decision matters. The same accusation can land under a different statute depending on the child’s age on the date alleged and on whether the State alleges one incident or a pattern over time. The punishment range, the deferred-adjudication rules, and parole eligibility all depend on the statute and subsection charged. A large part of early defense work is about which statute actually fits the evidence.

Sexual Assault of a Child Under Penal Code §22.011

Section 22.011(a)(2) covers the listed acts of penetration or sexual contact with a “child,” defined as a person younger than 17. Texas sets the age of consent at 17, so agreement by a 15- or 16-year-old is not a defense. Knowledge of age is not an element either, so the State does not have to prove you knew how old the child was.

The offense is a second-degree felony: 2 to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. It becomes a first-degree felony, 5 to 99 years or life, when the child was someone the accused was prohibited from marrying or living with under Penal Code Sections 25.01 or 25.02 (bigamy and prohibited sexual conduct), which reach certain family relationships, including a stepchild or stepparent. That is how a relationship inside the household can move the charge into the first-degree range even when the child was 14, 15, or 16.

Texas does recognize an affirmative defense for close-in-age relationships at §22.011(e). Every element has to be present:

• the accused was not more than three years older than the child;
• the child was 14 or older;
• the accused was not required to register as a sex offender for life and had no prior reportable conviction under §22.011; and
• the two were not in a relationship prohibited under §25.01 or §25.02.

The statute also provides a defense where the two were married to each other. It is an affirmative defense, and every statutory requirement must be satisfied. If your situation involves teenagers or a young adult, whether a teenager can be charged with statutory rape in Texas goes through the common scenarios.

Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child Under §22.021

Section 22.021 covers the same acts as §22.011 with an aggravating circumstance added. In child cases the aggravator is usually age: under §22.021(a)(2)(B), the offense is aggravated when the child was younger than 14. The statute also lists aggravators that apply regardless of age, including serious bodily injury, threats of death or serious injury or kidnapping, a deadly weapon, acting with another person, and certain drugs.

Aggravated sexual assault is a first-degree felony: 5 to 99 years or life, plus a fine of up to $10,000. Under §22.021(f), the minimum is 25 years if the child was younger than 10, or younger than 14 when one of the other aggravators in (a)(2)(A) was also present. The under-10 threshold is new: House Bill 1422 from the 2025 session raised it from under 6, effective September 1, 2025. The change is prospective, so conduct alleged to have happened before that date is judged under the older under-6 rule.

A case under subsection (f) also carries no parole eligibility, under Government Code §508.145(a), so the person is not eligible for parole, and no deferred adjudication, another change made by HB 1422.

Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Young Child Under §21.02

Section 21.02 applies when the allegation describes a pattern rather than a single event. The elements: a person 17 or older commits two or more acts of sexual abuse against a child younger than 14 (or a disabled individual) during a period of 30 or more days. The statute supplies its own list of what counts as an act of sexual abuse.

Continuous sexual abuse is a first-degree felony with a range of 25 to 99 years or life, under §21.02(h). There is no parole eligibility (Government Code §508.145(a)(2)). The sentence cannot be probated, and deferred adjudication is not available (Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42A.102(b)(3)(A)).

The statute has its own close-in-age defense at §21.02(g): the accused was not more than five years older than the child, did not use duress, force, or a threat, and was not required to register for life and had no prior reportable conviction. The 2025 legislature also added a companion offense, §21.03, for continuous sexual abuse involving two or more victims, also a first-degree felony, effective September 1, 2025. The continuous sexual abuse charge post covers this offense in more detail.

Registration, Probation, and Time Limits

Several rules apply across all three offenses.

Registration. All three are “sexually violent offenses” under Chapter 62 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the registration duty is for life (Article 62.101(a)(1)). Deferred adjudication counts as a reportable adjudication, so completing deferred does not avoid registration. The sex offender registry post explains what that duty involves.

Probation. A judge cannot place you on community supervision after a conviction for §22.011 or §22.021 (Article 42A.054(a)), and the 25-year minimum for §21.02 rules it out there as well. A jury can recommend community supervision only where there is no prior felony conviction and the sentence is ten years or less, and even then not for §22.011 or §22.021 when the child was younger than 14, and never for §21.02.

Deferred adjudication. For §22.011(a)(2), and for §22.021 cases outside subsection (f), a judge may grant deferred adjudication only after finding in open court that it is in the best interest of the victim (Article 42A.102(a)). It is not available for §21.02, §21.03, or a §22.021 case under subsection (f), and it is barred for anyone previously on community supervision for a listed sex offense. It still requires lifetime registration; the probation eligibility post covers how this plays out.

Time limits. There is no statute of limitations for any of the three (Code of Criminal Procedure Article 12.01). Something said to have happened many years ago can still be charged.

Prior convictions. Under Penal Code §12.42(c)(2), a conviction for §22.011 or §22.021 with a prior conviction for one of the sex offenses that section lists carries an automatic life sentence.

How These Cases Are Built in Collin County

Many of these cases begin with an outcry: the child says something to a parent, a teacher, a counselor, or a doctor, and that person reports it. The report goes to a police department or to CPS, and from there the two tracks described on the CPS and police investigation page open at once, one civil and one criminal.

The next step is often a recorded forensic interview at the children’s advocacy center, where a trained interviewer talks with the child while the detective and CPS observe. There may also be a medical exam by a sexual assault nurse examiner. At some point the detective will likely ask you to come in for an interview; that request is covered on the accused of child molestation page, and the short version is to speak with a lawyer first.

When the investigation is finished, the file goes to the Collin County District Attorney’s office, which decides what to charge. Felony charges are ordinarily presented to a grand jury and, if indicted, are heard in the district courts at the Russell A. Steindam Courts Building, 2100 Bloomdale Road in McKinney. Bond and the county courts are covered on the Collin County criminal defense guide. Between the outcry and the charging decision there is often a window when a defense lawyer can handle contact with the detective so you do not have to, and, in the right case, put information in front of the prosecutor before the grand jury meets.

What the Defense Actually Looks At

A defense in one of these cases is built from the evidence, not from a theory about the family. Nothing in the law requires the defense to attack a child, and Kent does not. What the law requires is that the State prove every element of the statute it chose, beyond a reasonable doubt. Some of the places the defense focuses:

The elements and the specific act alleged. The exact statute, the specific act alleged, the date, and the child’s age on that date. When no other statutory aggravator applies, the child’s fourteenth birthday separates §22.011 from age-based aggravated sexual assault under §22.021. The line between a single count and §21.02 is whether the State can prove two or more acts and a span of 30 days or more. Where the date or the number of acts is genuinely uncertain, that can be the difference between a two-year floor and a twenty-five-year floor.

The forensic interview and what came before it. The recording is reviewed against the protocol the interviewer was trained to follow: how questions were asked and whether they were open or leading, and the sequence and conduct of any earlier interviews. Where it helps, the defense can consult professionals who evaluate forensic interviews. The point is to know how the account was obtained and whether the recording supports the charge as filed.

The medical evidence and its limits. If an exam was done, the records are read for what they show and what they do not. A normal exam is not proof in either direction, and when the records call for it, the defense can bring in a medical reviewer.

Timelines and opportunity. Where each person was, who else was in the home, work and custody schedules, travel, and the layout of the places named. Records from phones, employers, schools, and courts are the backbone of a defense that may otherwise rest on the account alone.

Statements and digital evidence. Anything you said to a detective, to CPS, to a family member, or in a text will be in the file, and the defense looks at the circumstances of every statement: whether you were in custody, whether you were warned, whether the recording is complete, and whether the report matches the recording. Phones and cloud accounts cut both ways; messages between the adults involved and location data can corroborate a timeline or undercut one. Where a statement was taken in violation of your rights, or a device was searched without lawful authority, the defense evaluates whether a motion to suppress is supported.

Who first received the account. The defense reviews who first received the account, what was reported, and whether that evidence is admissible.

None of this promises an outcome, and Kent will not promise you one.

What to Do Now

If you have been charged, or you believe a charge is coming: do not give a statement to anyone, and do not discuss the allegation with the child or with anyone in the family until a lawyer has looked at the situation. Do not delete anything from any device or account. And do not try to sort it out yourself, in person or online. The accused of child molestation page covers the first days in detail. A family member is welcome to make the first call; the client is the person facing the charge regardless of who pays, and Kent will sort out conflicts before going into details.

Then call. Kent Starr has practiced criminal defense since 1997 and represents people facing sex-crime charges in Collin County and represents people charged in state and federal court. As a solo lawyer, he is the one who works your case, and he will tell you honestly what you are looking at and what he would do next. The consultation is free and confidential, Kent takes it himself, and you do not have to explain anything on the phone to schedule it. Call (214) 982-1408.

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Every case is evaluated on its own facts.

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