Internet Crimes Defense

Internet crime allegations are unlike any other charge: the "crime scene" is a hard drive, a phone, or a server log, and the State's entire case depends on convincing a jury that you were the person behind the keyboard. These cases are won and lost on digital forensics, attribution, and the legality of how the evidence was seized — and they are increasingly charged in both Missouri state court and federal court.

Cases Mike Defends

• Online solicitation and enticement allegations — including sting operations where there was never a real minor involved
• Possession or distribution of prohibited images — charged under Missouri Chapter 573 and federal law
• Cyber harassment and stalking — threats, repeated contact, and social media disputes charged criminally
• Computer tampering and unauthorized access — state charges and federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act cases
• Online fraud, phishing, and identity theft allegations
• Nonconsensual image (“revenge porn”) charges

Where These Cases Break

• Attribution. An IP address identifies a connection, not a person. Shared Wi-Fi, shared devices, roommates, spyware, and spoofing all create reasonable doubt about who was actually at the keyboard.
• The search. Digital warrants must be specific. Overbroad device seizures, stale probable cause, and searches that exceed the warrant's scope are suppression targets — and suppression often ends the case.
• The forensics. Deleted files, cache artifacts, automatic downloads, and metadata are routinely misinterpreted by the State's examiners. Independent forensic review changes outcomes.
• Sting conduct. In solicitation stings, what the officer typed, when, and who escalated the conversation matters enormously — entrapment and lack of intent are real defenses.

State and Federal Exposure

Because internet activity crosses state lines by definition, many of these cases can be — and are — charged federally, where sentencing guidelines are unforgiving. Mike is licensed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and defends these cases in both systems. If agents have seized your devices or asked you to "come in and clear things up," do not talk, do not consent, and call immediately.

Key Missouri Law

Charged? Here's Your Next Move.

Do not give a statement. Do not consent to a search. Do not plead at your first appearance just to make it stop. Call or text 636.940.7771 — any hour, any day — or send the free case evaluation form and we'll get back to you fast.