Worried About Custody After an Online Sex Crime Charge in Texas?

If you’re worried about custody after an online sex crime charge in Texas, here’s the short answer. But bond conditions, protective orders and family court orders can change your time with your child, and some of them can start quickly. Each one comes from a different court or process, so each needs its own attention. This page explains how these pieces fit together and what to do now.

What a Pending Online Sex Crime Charge Means for a Parent’s Time With Their Child

A pending charge is an accusation, not a conviction. The criminal case moves through the criminal court on its own schedule and under its own rules.

A ruling in one case does not automatically decide the other.

Many parents facing this charge ask the same questions first. Will I still pick my child up from school? Can I attend school events? Who can be in the room during visits? Those questions are fair. The answers depend on the orders in place, so write them down and bring them to your first meeting with a lawyer. Acting early gives you time to understand each order before the next visit.

How Texas Courts Decide Custody and Access

The judge looks at the whole picture, not one fact alone.

The nature of the allegations matters here too. Claims of family violence or child abuse can come up in family court as well as in criminal court. Each judge weighs the evidence in a different case, and no one can predict that weighing ahead of time.

Does a Charge Automatically Change Custody or Access?

That does not mean the schedule stays the same. A family court can act on the facts it has, including through temporary orders. A parent should not assume the current schedule will continue unchanged.

Whether a change happens depends on the facts of the case, the child’s circumstances and the orders already in place. Many people searching for custody after an online sex crime charge in Texas ask this question first. Ask your lawyer to review those orders with you instead of relying on memory.

Bond Conditions, No-Contact Orders, and Device Restrictions

A judge who sets bond can attach conditions. Breaking a condition can be a separate crime.

Texas Penal Code § 25.07 makes it an offense to knowingly violate a bond condition in certain cases. Those cases include sexual assault or abuse cases. The condition must relate to the safety of a victim or the community. The statute covers communicating with a protected individual or a member of the family or household when an order prohibits any communication with them, except through the person’s attorney or a person appointed by the court.

Bond conditions vary from case to case. Read the actual conditions with your lawyer. Before any contact with a child, ask whether a condition applies. Do not assume that a text, a video call or a message passed through a relative is allowed.

Protective Orders and Child-Protective Investigations

A protective order can limit contact with a child and bar a parent from certain places. A court can act quickly on these requests.

Under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art. 7B.002, a court can issue a temporary ex parte order. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 7B.002 reads: “If the court finds from the information contained in an application for a protective order that there is a clear and present danger of conduct described by Article 7B.001(a)(1) or (2) or other harm to the applicant.” It can do so without further notice to the alleged offender and without a hearing, when it finds a clear and present danger.

Under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art. 7B.005, an order can prohibit threatening or harassing communication with the protected person or family members and, if the court finds good cause, any communication except through the applicant’s attorney or a court-appointed person. It can also bar going to or near a home, a workplace or a child’s school or child-care facility. Where an order includes a location restriction, the court must describe each prohibited location and the minimum distance from the location, if any, that the alleged offender must maintain, unless the court has received a request to maintain confidentiality of information revealing the locations.

Article 7B.005 describes the conditions a court may set in a protective order, and its text does not state how long an order lasts. Article 7B.005 lists conditions a court may set in a protective order issued under this subchapter; it does not state when a protective order expires if no period is stated.

A child-protective investigation can also run alongside the criminal case. You may be asked to follow a safety plan. Keep copies of every order, notice and plan, and bring them to your consultation.

Protecting Your Position While the Case Is Pending

The most useful step is to follow every order and bond condition exactly. Here are the habits that matter most:

• Follow every court order and bond condition, including limits on contact with a child or the complaining person.
• Do not discuss the allegations with your child, the other parent or anyone who may be a witness.
• Do not post about the case, the child or the other parent on social media.
• Do not delete accounts, messages or photos without getting advice first.
• Keep a dated, factual record of parenting time, exchanges, school involvement and messages with the other parent.
• Do not contact your child or the other parent in any way the court has not authorized.

Stick to dates, times and what was actually said. Facts are easier to review than feelings.

How Criminal Defense Review Fits Into Custody and Access Questions

A criminal defense review looks at the charge, the evidence and every order already in place. That review shows how the criminal case may affect your family situation.

The review starts with the charging document and the bond sheet. It then covers the digital evidence and the timeline of the alleged conduct. Your lawyer can then explain your options in both settings.

Online cases can also involve federal agencies. The federal ICAC Task Force Program investigates technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children describes online enticement and the tactics used in online grooming.

Texas law on online solicitation of a minor is in Texas Penal Code § 33.021. The punishment can increase if the offense happens during regular public or private primary or secondary school hours and the actor knew or reasonably should have known that the minor was enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school at the time of the offense.

Professionals who hold a license may also face a licensing board investigation. Barbieri Law Firm is based in Frisco. The firm defends clients in Collin County, Prosper and across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. No lawyer can say how a criminal case will end, and no lawyer can assure how a family judge will rule.

Talk Through Your Charge and Release Conditions With Barbieri Law Firm

The next step is a clear conversation about your charge, your release conditions and any orders you already have.

If an online charge has put your time with your child at risk, you may not know which conditions apply today. Our team can read your bond sheet, your orders and the charge with you. That way you know what you can and cannot do right now.

The first consultation is free, confidential and carries no obligation to continue. Send us your case details or call (972) 424-1902 to talk through your charge and release conditions.

Attorney responsible for this site: Heather Barbieri, Barbieri Law Firm, Frisco, Texas.