{"id":24722,"date":"2020-04-06T08:48:33","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T12:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/?p=24722"},"modified":"2026-04-09T18:18:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:18:03","slug":"what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/","title":{"rendered":"Accused of Domestic Violence or Aggravated Assault in Maine: First Steps and How to Fight the Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What To Do First After a Domestic Violence Accusation<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: left; margin: 0 20px 10px 0; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/All-4-Lawyers-Option-2-678x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Four professional business people in formal attire posing together against a brick wall with green ivy backdrop.\" width=\"250\" align=\"left\" \/><br \/>\nIf you have been accused of <a href=\"https:\/\/webblawmaine.com\/domestic-violence.html\">domestic violence<\/a> or domestic aggravated assault in Maine, you need to act quickly. The decisions you make in the first hours and days after an accusation can shape your entire case outcome. Whether you face a misdemeanor domestic violence charge or a felony aggravated assault allegation, early action matters.<\/p>\n<p>This guide covers what domestic violence charges mean under Maine law. It explains the penalties you could face, what steps to take right away, and how a defense attorney can help fight these charges. In our experience representing clients accused of <a href=\"https:\/\/webblawmaine.com\/domestic-violence.html\">domestic violence<\/a> in southern Maine, one critical early decision stands out. Many people speak with police before consulting an attorney. Too often, they try to explain their side and end up making things worse.<\/p>\n<div class=\"read_more_link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/\"  title=\"Continue Reading Accused of Domestic Violence or Aggravated Assault in Maine: First Steps and How to Fight the Charges\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What To Do First After a Domestic Violence Accusation If you have been accused of domestic violence or domestic aggravated assault in Maine, you need to act quickly. The decisions you make in the first hours and days after an accusation can shape your entire case outcome. Whether you face a misdemeanor domestic violence charge [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,26,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal-defense","category-domestic-violence","category-maine-criminal-law","category-sexual-assault"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Domestic Assault Charges in Maine | Webb Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Facing domestic violence or aggravated assault charges in Maine? Learn your rights, possible defenses, and first steps to protect yourself.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Domestic Assault Charges in Maine | Webb Law\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Facing domestic violence or aggravated assault charges in Maine? Learn your rights, possible defenses, and first steps to protect yourself.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Webb Law Firm\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Domestic Assault Charges in Maine | Webb Law","description":"Facing domestic violence or aggravated assault charges in Maine? 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Learn your rights, possible defenses, and first steps to protect yourself.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Webb Law Firm","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/"},"author":{"name":"Webb Law Firm","@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2a779c0cfb58df839ae19364412f5dc6"},"headline":"Accused of Domestic Violence or Aggravated Assault in Maine: First Steps and How to Fight the Charges","datePublished":"2020-04-06T12:48:33+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-09T22:18:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/"},"wordCount":1925,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","articleSection":["Criminal Defense","Domestic Violence","Maine Criminal Law","Sexual Assault"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/","url":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/","name":"Domestic Assault Charges in Maine | Webb Law","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","datePublished":"2020-04-06T12:48:33+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-09T22:18:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2a779c0cfb58df839ae19364412f5dc6"},"description":"Facing domestic violence or aggravated assault charges in Maine? Learn your rights, possible defenses, and first steps to protect yourself.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-are-the-first-steps-after-being-accused-of-domestic-violence-or-sexual-assault\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","width":1200,"height":1200,"caption":"he Webb Law Firm has criminal defense offices in Saco and Portland ME, so their top OWI lawyers cover almost all of Southern Maine. We have turned things around for a lot of people. 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