Legally Speaking Cassandra Savoy, Esq. OP/ED
The New Jersey Legislature has declared that the danger of a sex offender reoffending is so great that they must be required to register with law enforcement officials to identify and alert the public. Consequently, in 1999, the Legislature enacted Megan’s Law which laid out the system of registration of sex offenders of certain named offenses.
The offenses under Megan’s Law include: aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, criminal sexual contact if the victim is minor, endangering the welfare of a child by engaging in sexual conduct which would impair or debauch the morals of the child, endangering the welfare of a child through acts involving pornography featuring a child, promoting prostitution of a child, luring or enticing, kidnapping, criminal restraint, and false imprisonment if the victim is a minor and the offender is not a parent.
Under Megan’s Law, all sex offenders over the age of 14 must register at the police department where they live and to notify the police when they move. Sex offenders convicted in another state are required to register within 10 days of moving to New Jersey. In addition, sex offenders convicted in another state are required to register. You must register in New Jersey even if you live in New York and only come to New Jersey to work on a garbage truck or to attend Rutgers. The failure to register is a crime of the fourth degree punishable by up to eighteen months in jail. In 2002, Megan’s law was amended to require lifetime community supervision meaning a person convicted of a sex crime would need to register for the remainder of his life. If he moves to another state, he will be required to register in that state.
Sex offenders are classified into three groups. Tier I requires that the offender be registered for at least 15 years, with annual verification of registration information. These offenders have been convicted of the least serious offenses. Tier II requires 25 years registration, with semi-annual verification. Tier III requires lifetime registration with information being verified quarterly. Tier III offenders are those who pose a high risk that they will commit new crimes. These are the offenders where violence was used in the commission of the offense.
If the risk level is low, Tier I, law enforcement agencies are notified. If the risk level is moderate, Tier II, in addition to law enforcement agencies, schools, licensed day care centers, summer camps, and registered community organizations are notified of sex offenders that they are likely to encounter because of the possibility that pedophiles and sexual predators will be drawn to these places. If the risk level is high, Tier III, in addition to law enforcement agencies, schools, licensed day care centers, summer camps, registered community organizations, and members of the public are notified.
If you are Tier II or Tier III, the worse part of about being in the registry is the fact that the registry is online and open to the public. You lose your right to privacy. The registry includes photos and other details about you. This means potential employers engaging in due diligence can find you if they look.
There are jobs you can never have. For example, you cannot work in a place where there are children like a daycare, the YWCA or a school. Being on the registry could impact on your love life because if your girlfriend has children, you might not be able to be around the children. Being in the registry could affect whether a landlord will allow you to live in a certain apartment. Legal or not, public information can be misused and there is likely nothing you can do about it. Being subject to Megan’s registration means that you lose your right to move freely from one place to another as you choose. And, worse of all, you could be subject to harm by the wingnuts who assume that once a sex offender always a sex offender regardless of tier.
But all may not be lost! If you are Tier I under Megan’s Law and you meet the criteria, you can apply to the Supreme Court to terminate your registration and remove you from the registry. You are eligible to apply to the court fifteen years after conviction or release from prison whichever is later. The means that if you were convicted in 2005 and released from jail in 2010, you will be eligible to apply to the court for termination and removal in 2025.
When you apply, you will need to prove to the court that you have committed no other offenses during the fifteen-year period, and most importantly, you must convince the court you pose no risk to the public. I should note; however, if you were under the age of 14 when you committed the sex offense, and not yet 18, you can apply for termination of registration. The court must be convinced by clear and convincing evidence that the juvenile offender poses no threat to the safety of others and is unlikely to reoffend.
