Sex Offender Registry

If you have been charged with a criminal conviction for a sex crime in North Carolina, you could face serious consequences. Convicted defendants face heavy fines and lengthy prison sentences. You could be placed on North Carolina’s Sex Offender Registry. Under North Carolina law, any defendant who receives a “reportable conviction” must maintain registration in the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry. Convicted defendants have a legal obligation to report themselves in person to the appropriate sheriff’s office and complete the initial registration. Depending on the offense, you could have to remain a registered sex offender for life.

Under North Carolina law, certain convicted sex offenders must register with their county sheriff. The sheriff then gathers information from the convicted offender and information from court documents. Then, the sheriff enters the defendant’s information into the North Carolina’s Sex Offender Registry database. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation makes certain information available to the public via the Sex Offender Registry website.

Defendants convicted of one or more of the following types of crimes must register as sex offenders on North Carolina’s Sex Offender Registry:

• A crime against a minor
• A sexually violent crime
• An attempt to commit a sexual offense against a minor or a sexually violent crime.

Any person who resides in the state of North Carolina who has been convicted of one of the above crimes must register as a sex offender. Residents must register immediately after their conviction when they are not serving prison time. When the defendant must serve prison time, he or she must register within three business days of release from prison or jail, or when he arrives in a county to reside outside of a prison or jail.

Students who do not reside in North Carolina must register on the sex registry as soon as they enroll in any school in North Carolina. Workers who are not residents of North Carolina who have received a conviction of a qualifying sex crime must also register. They need to register after working for more than 14 days or for an aggregate of 30 days or more in the calendar year. They need to register with the sheriff in the county in which they work.

The following crimes fall under the category of a crime against a minor. There are other less common crimes against a minor not listed here that can also require registration as a sex offender. Thus, defendants convicted of the following crimes must register as a sex offender:

• Felonious restraint of a child
• The kidnapping of a child
• Taking indecent liberties with a child
• Allowing a sexual act to happen to a minor child by a guardian or parent
• Solicitation of a minor through the use of a computer to commit an unlawful sex act
• Statutory rape
• Another sexual offense in which the victim is 15 years old or younger and the defendant was at least six years older

Sex offenders who commit sexually violent crimes must register as sex offenders. Some of the more common sexually violent crimes that require sex offender registration include:

• Incest
• Sexual battery
• First-degree forcible rape
• Second-degree forcible rape
• Felonious indecent exposure
• First and second-degree forcible sexual offenses
• Human trafficking
• Soliciting or conspiring to commit any of the sexual crimes listed above

North Carolina defendants can face charges for an attempt to commit any of the sex crimes listed above. In other words, a person does not need to actually commit the crime in order to be placed on North Carolina’s Sex Offender Registry. For example, a court could convict a defendant for conspiracy to commit rape. North Carolina law would require that individual to register as a sex offender.

The amount of time a sex offender must remain on the registry depends on the type of sex crime he or she committed. The more serious the sex crime, the longer they are required to remain on the sex offender list. Those who commit serious criminal offenses must register for at least 30 years following the date of their initial county registration.

If you have been charged with a sexual crime in North Carolina, hiring a skilled lawyer is essential. Conviction of sexual crimes could result in your placement on North Carolina’s sex offender registry. Contact our criminal defense lawyers today to schedule your free initial consultation.