Phoenix Position of Trust Sex Crime Lawyer

What Is a “Position of Trust” in an Arizona Sex Crime Case?

What “Position of Trust” Means Under Arizona Law

It is a specific legal status, defined by statute, that supercharges the penalties.

“Position of trust” is not a vague idea, it is a defined term in A.R.S. 13-1401, and it is one of the most consequential words in an Arizona sex-crime case. The law applies it to people who hold authority over, or a caretaking relationship with, a minor.

Who the Law Treats as a Position of Trust

• Parents and parent-figures, a parent, stepparent, adoptive parent, legal guardian, or foster parent, or anyone standing in loco parentis (in the place of a parent).
• Educators, a teacher, administrator, or any employee or volunteer of a school the minor attends.
• Coaches and instructors, athletic, music, tutoring, and similar mentors.
• Clergy, priests, pastors, youth ministers, and other religious leaders.
• Other caretakers and authority figures, including certain employers, therapists, and counselors, depending on the relationship.

The key is the relationship, not the act. The same conduct is treated far more harshly when the State can show the accused stood in one of these roles toward the minor.

How a Position of Trust Increases the Charge

The label can move a case from probation territory to mandatory prison.

Under A.R.S. 13-1405, sexual conduct with a minor who is 15, 16, or 17 is ordinarily a Class 6 felony, the least severe felony, often probation-eligible. But when the person is in a position of trust, subsection (B) elevates it to a Class 2 felony, the most serious felony class in Arizona, carrying a presumptive prison term and exposure of years behind bars. The conduct is identical; only the relationship changed.

The position-of-trust status also narrows the available defenses, can affect probation eligibility, and almost always means sex-offender registration. When the victim is under 15, the offense is already a Class 2 felony and a Dangerous Crime Against Children regardless of trust, with mandatory, consecutive prison.

Penalty Comparison

General guidance only; your exposure depends on the specific facts, the relationship, and your record.

Teachers, Coaches, Clergy & Other Professionals

These accusations carry unique stakes, your career and license, not just the criminal case.

A position-of-trust accusation is uniquely destructive because it threatens everything at once, your freedom, your professional license, your reputation, and your livelihood, often before any charge is even filed. We defend:

• Teachers and school staff facing allegations involving a student, and the parallel district or licensing investigation.
• Coaches, trainers, and tutors accused by an athlete or student.
• Clergy and youth leaders facing church or congregation accusations (the strongest single search term in this area is clergy abuse).
• Parents, stepparents, guardians, and foster parents accused within the family, often during a custody or DCS dispute.
• Therapists, counselors, and employers in supervisory roles.

In every one of these, the accusation often surfaces through a mandatory reporter (a teacher, counselor, or clergy member) and triggers a simultaneous institutional investigation. What you say to the school, the church, HR, or investigators can become the case against you, which is why your first call should be to a lawyer.

Will a Position of Trust Conviction Require Registration?

In almost every case, yes, and it follows you for life.

A Class 2 felony conviction for sexual conduct with a minor by a person in a position of trust generally requires sex-offender registration under A.R.S. 13-3821, often for life, on top of prison. Registration ends a teaching or coaching career permanently and dictates where you can live and work.

Because registration is triggered by the offense of conviction, the time to fight it is during the case. See fighting sex offender registration for how we work to avoid it or, where eligible, end it.

How the State Builds a Position of Trust Case

Knowing how these cases are assembled is the first step to taking them apart.

Position-of-trust cases are usually built on the relationship and the communications, not physical evidence:

• The accusation and statements, the minor’s account, plus anything you said to the school, church, employer, or police.
• Digital communications, texts, DMs, emails, and social media between you and the student or congregant, often pulled by warrant.
• Institutional records, HR files, school reports, and mandatory-reporter referrals.
• A forensic interview, if the minor is younger, which can be tainted by leading or suggestive questioning.

Every one of these has weaknesses, on how it was gathered, what it actually shows, and whether it is admissible.

How We Defend a Position of Trust Accusation

An accusation is not a conviction, and the “trust” element itself can be challenged.

We attack these cases on multiple fronts at once. Critically, the position-of-trust status is itself an element the State must prove, the relationship, its nature, and its timing, and it can be contested. Beyond that, our defense layers the same disciplines we use in every serious sex case, click any to see exactly how:

• Attacking Credibility & Motive
• Challenging the Forensic Interview
• Scrutinizing Digital Evidence
• Testing DNA & Medical Forensics
• Suppressing Unlawful Evidence
• Fighting Sex Offender Registration

We focus heavily on the motive to fabricate (a failing grade, discipline, a custody fight, or peer pressure), the inconsistencies across the minor’s accounts, what the digital communications actually say in full context, and whether the State can even establish the trust relationship as the statute defines it. We also bring the right experts to dismantle the State’s evidence and protect any professional license in the parallel proceeding.

The Court Process & What To Do Right Now

Acting early, and saying nothing, protects your freedom and your career.

These are felonies, prosecuted in the Maricopa County Superior Court, and they often run on two tracks at once: the criminal case and an institutional or licensing investigation. Both can be used against you, and both need a coordinated defense from day one.

What To Do Right Now

• Do not talk to police, the school, the church, HR, or investigators. “Cooperating to clear it up” is how innocent people get charged.
• Do not contact the accuser or their family, and do not take a recorded “confrontation call.”
• Do not delete anything, but preserve the full context of your communications.
• Call a sex-crime defense lawyer immediately, ideally before charges are filed, so we can shape both the criminal and the institutional case.