Failure to Register as a Sex Offender

Many people who are charged with a criminal offense for the first or even fifth time will unfortunately take the wrong approach to dealing with their case. Too often we defense attorneys hear from our clients that they just want to “plea out” or “get it over with.” In reality, there are often many benefits to challenging the State and fighting your case. In Florida, criminal convictions resulting from guilty pleas can have wide ranging and seriously negative effects on one’s life. For example, many people these days believe possession of marijuana to be a minor criminal charge that they can safely plea to and not have to worry about future employers scrutinizing their history. And while it is true that a majority of Floridians support the legalization of cannabis, the punishments inflicted by the State are still out of whack. If you are convicted of cannabis possession in Florida, or possession of any controlled substance, you could be facing a mandatory drivers license suspension along with the fines, court costs and sometimes jail or probation that already accompany such convictions.

If you are convicted of a Felony offense, the State can strip you of many of the civil rights afforded to you by the Constitution of the United States. Any felony conviction will result in the loss of the right to vote in state and Federal elections (although as of 2020 a constitutional amendment restores the voting rights of all felons after their sentences are served). A felony conviction will result in the loss of your second amendment right to bear arms. In Florida, that means that you can not own or possess a firearm for personal protection, for recreation or for hunting. Those who are convicted of sex offenses are worse off than anyone. If you are facing charges for any sexual offense, you should not hesitate to contact an experienced St. Petersburg sex crimes lawyer right away.

Failure to register as a sex offender is a criminal offense made punishable by Florida Statute 943.0435. The law in Florida regarding the registration of sex offenders and the restrictions placed upon those people can be extremely burdensome and are some of the harshest laws in the United States. First, Florida implements a lifetime reporting requirement. Other states have sex offender registries that people must report to for a term of years commensurate with the crime they committed. Florida sex offenders must spend their life on the list, absent some specific exceptions, for all sex offenses from relatively minor offenses like consensual statutory rape to the most serious felony sex offenses. If you’ve been charged with any sexual offense, it is critical that you try to avoid a conviction and placement on the registry. You should contact a dedicated St. Petersburg sex crimes lawyer.

Florida imposes strict and unwieldy requirements upon those who have been required to register as sex offenders. They are prohibited from living within a certain distance from schools, parks and other places that children typically gather—even if their offense had nothing to do with children. Many local municipalities place even harsher restrictions on sex offenders, resulting in some cities having only small pockets of their footprint where sex offenders can even live. The registration requirement makes it extraordinarily difficult for offenders to find places to live and work, long after they have served their sentences and paid their debt to society. If you are on the registry, it is imperative that you keep track of your reporting dates, because investigators and police are notified when an offender misses their date to report by even one day. Instead of calling and reminding people that they need to report, resources are spent to issue arrest warrants and prosecute people for the third degree felony offense of failure to register. If you have been charged with failure to register as a sex offender, you should not hesitate to contact a St. Petersburg sex crimes lawyer to build your defense right away.

The attorneys at Hanlon Law can build the best defense for your specific case. Call us for an appointment today at 727.289.0222.