Georgia Sex Offender Registry

By: Sex Crimes Attorney Larry Kohn Criminal Defense Lawyer Atlanta – Offering Criminal Defense legal services for sex crime cases in Georgia for over 20 years

Thousands of monthly searches in Georgia seek information from sex offender records. Some searches are by employers verifying that an applicant has no prior sex crime record, and others are concerned parents seeking to protect their children from child predators. Georgia sex offenders, once convicted, literally must look over their shoulder all the time.

Because no other identifiable criminal offender is more reviled than a convicted child sex offender, very few protections or limitations for publicizing or disseminating this information will be found in Georgia law. Regardless of police oversight and monitoring in tracking and accounting for sex offender records, concerned parents will be monitoring any offenders near them to see if any fail to register, or relocate to a new residence without prior approval.

Fewer than 5% of criminal defense attorneys near me will defend a sex crime case.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation maintains a statewide database of all people who have been convicted of a sex crime that qualify for inclusion in the sex offender registry Georgia. The GBI sex offender registry is also connected to local county sheriff’s records in Georgia’s 159 counties. In addition, private websites that have scraped data from their county sex offender list create their own sex offender registry GA near me portal.

Where an accused person’s cases involve criminal charges like child sex abuse, indecent exposure, statutory rape, sexual assault and “date rape,” the government sees this person as a danger to the community. Harsh state laws can put a convicted offender behind bars for decades. Even the adult sexual abuse charges in the Peach State are sanctioned with very tough state prison sentences, if that indicted person is convicted.

The State of Georgia sex offender list is part of the national sex offender registration and community notification act in the United States. The GBI community notification page can be found here.

The national federal sex offender registry can be found at http://www.nsopw.gov/.

This national sex offender public website is the official home of the national sex offender registration and notification act (SORNA) tracking convicted sex offenders. Federal money partially funds the national tracking of those on the offender directory, but the State of Georgia has lost funds due to not properly identifying Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 registrants.

The launch of this federal tracking is directly attributable to the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act approved by Congress in 2006. The original federal law can be viewed here.

Those who commit one sex offense are likely to reoffend, according to psychiatric journals. Plus, criminal justice records of guilty pleas and trials seem to support that claim, according to the federal Department of Justice.

The Georgia Sex Offender Registry is maintained by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at 3121 Panthersville Road, Decatur, GA 30034. Any person can go to the Georgia sex offender registry list on the GBI website to search for a listed offender on the GA sex offender registry. This link allows anyone to make a Georgia sex offender registry search.

From the Georgia GBI website is this summary of the criminal justice services program to track convicted sex offenders in the State of Georgia:

In accordance with O.C.G.A. § 42-1-12, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is the central repository for Georgia’s Violent Sexual Offender Registry. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation makes every effort to ensure that the information contained in the Georgia Sex Offender Registry is accurate. As the information is provided by other agencies and entities and is continuously changing, the GBI makes no promise or any express or implied guarantee concerning the accuracy of this information.

The GBI and county sheriffs oversee tracking of those who have been convicted of child molestation, child sexual abuse, or other sexual acts in any jurisdiction, and then relocate to Georgia. On a county-by-county basis, however, each of the local GA sheriffs’ offices also have the duty to monitor the compliance with Georgia state laws that regulate sex offenders. Detailed tracking of these offenders who have been paroled or put on probation falls under the Sheriff’s oversight.

Social scientists report that sex offenders tend to commit crimes multiple times over the course of their life. Putting anyone predisposed to such conduct on a registry helps public agencies deal with protecting children’s schools and churches. These entities can go to the sex offender registry in GA (by county of residence) and see whether an individual is seeking to work at or near these institutions. Plus, a national search can detect if he or she has ever been on the sex offender registry in Georgia or other state.

For almost all sex offenders convicted in Georgia, the person will have a lifetime sentence of reporting and being tracked. A 2017 article by the Atlanta Journal reported over 21,000 currently registered in the State of Georgia.

Once a sex offender registry record starts, that person is placed on the national and GA registries. The person’s name will not ever come off except if a Georgia Supreme Court decision or amended legislation permits it.

Other states like Louisiana and Texas have much more invasive and comprehensive laws that mandate periodic polygraph testing (lie detector) for those already on the list and living in those states. These draconian laws have been challenged for being cruel and unusual punishment.

If a person is convicted of one of the qualifying sexual crimes offenses, then the person is obligated to register at the GA sex offender registry site and then is required to regularly report. The State of Georgia imposes three (3) primary duties for an individual to comply with our Georgia sex offenders’ laws.

First, is that state sex offenders must register if living in this State. He or she then must report to the county sheriff’s department where that sex offender lives.

Second, the sex offender living in Georgia must notify the authorities about any intended move and make certain that the proposed location will be an approved residence. This violation occurs when an offender moves first and he or she does not clear it with the county sheriff’s office. The person may have moved too close an elementary school.

Even though this probationer may not have been convicted of any crime with a child at or near a school, moving too close to ANY school, in GA, violates the sex registry law. Georgia criminal laws require the individual to always make his or her presence known to the county sheriff’s office in Georgia.

Third, if the sex offender registers but then does not report, it is a new and different crime. This separate crime for failure to report once a person is a registered sex offender will be prosecuted.

The public can get information about the sex offender registry in TWO primary ways. When a sex offender moves or changes their address, a community notification is posted. This is part of a law that obligates the sheriff to notify the public of this updated information, to be vigilant about potential sex criminals in the neighborhood.

Sometimes, this takes the form of a flier on a telephone pole or a letter in the mail to homes within a certain proximity of the moving address. This notification process “revisits” the person’s sex crime history. Hence, a sentence for sex crimes can create lifelong problems for the individual convicted.

So, sex crime laws in Georgia call for both a community notification and periodic reporting on a convicted sex offender’s new location. The length of time that this must occur is established by the sentencing judge. Typically, a sex offender must report their location for a lifetime, unless your lawyer has been able to utilize Georgia’s sex offender removal statute to clear your name.

The most serious felonies for registered offenders are determined by looking at the potential, maximum number of years in a Georgia state prison. Plus, some laws in Georgia for sex crimes have been overturned on constitutional grounds, and new statutes enacted in Georgia. l

The laws on sex offender registration are extensive. Thus, all that can be provided are links to the various Georgia code sections. Set forth below are about 35% of the current, applicable laws in GA,

42-1-12 State Sexual Offender Registry

O.C.G.A. § 42-1-12

Current Georgia Code provisions through the 2019 Regular Session of the General Assembly

OCGA 42-1-12. State Sexual Offender Registry

(A) “Criminal offense against a victim who is a minor” with respect to convictions occurring on or before June 30, 2001, means any criminal offense under Title 16 or any offense under federal law or the laws of another state or territory of the United States which consists of:

(i) Kidnapping of a minor, except by a parent;(ii) False imprisonment of a minor, except by a parent;(iii) Criminal sexual conduct toward a minor;(iv) Solicitation of a minor to engage in sexual conduct;(v) Use of a minor in a sexual performance;(vi) Solicitation of a minor to practice prostitution; or(vii) Any conviction resulting from an underlying sexual offense against a victim who is a minor.

(B) “Criminal offense against a victim who is a minor” with respect to convictions occurring after June 30, 2001, means any criminal offense under Title 16 or any offense under federal law or the laws of another state or territory of the United States which consists of:

(i) Kidnapping of a minor, except by a parent;(ii) False imprisonment of a minor, except by a parent;(iii) Criminal sexual conduct toward a minor;(iv) Solicitation of a minor to engage in sexual conduct;(v) Use of a minor in a sexual performance;(vi) Solicitation of a minor to practice prostitution;(vii) Use of a minor to engage in any sexually explicit conduct to produce any visual medium depicting such conduct;(viii) Creating, publishing, selling, distributing, or possessing any material depicting a minor or a portion of a minor’s body engaged in sexually explicit conduct;(ix) Transmitting, making, selling, buying, or disseminating by means of a computer any descriptive or identifying information regarding a child for the purpose of offering or soliciting sexual conduct of or with a child or the visual depicting of such conduct;(x) Conspiracy to transport, ship, receive, or distribute visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct; or(xi) Any conduct which, by its nature, is a sexual offense against a victim who is a minor.

(C) For purposes of this paragraph, a conviction for a misdemeanor shall not be considered a criminal offense against a victim who is a minor and conduct which is adjudicated in juvenile court shall not be considered a criminal offense against a victim who is a minor.

(A) “Dangerous sexual offense” with respect to convictions occurring on or before June 30, 2006, means any criminal offense, or the attempt to commit any criminal offense, under Title 16 as specified in this paragraph or any offense under federal law or the laws of another state or territory of the United States which consists of the same or similar elements of the following offenses:

(i) Aggravated assault with the intent to rape in violation of Code Section 16-5-21;(ii) Rape in violation of Code Section 16-6-1;(iii) Aggravated sodomy in violation of Code Section 16-6-2;(iv) Aggravated child molestation in violation of Code Section 16-6-4; or(v) Aggravated sexual battery in violation of Code Section 16-6-22.2.

(B) “Dangerous sexual offense” with respect to convictions occurring between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2015, means any criminal offense, or the attempt to commit any criminal offense, under Title 16 as specified in this paragraph or any offense under federal law or the laws of another state or territory of the United States which consists of the same or similar elements of the following offenses:

(i) Aggravated assault with the intent to rape in violation of Code Section 16-5-21;(ii) Kidnapping in violation of Code Section 16-5-40 which involves a victim who is less than 14 years of age, except by a parent;(iii) False imprisonment in violation of Code Section 16-5-41 which involves a victim who is less than 14 years of age, except by a parent;(iv) Rape in violation of Code Section 16-6-1;(v) Sodomy in violation of Code Section 16-6-2;(vi) Aggravated sodomy in violation of Code Section 16-6-2;(vii) Statutory rape in violation of Code Section 16-6-3, if the individual convicted of the offense is 21 years of age or older;(viii) Child molestation in violation of Code Section 16-6-4;(ix) Aggravated child molestation in violation of Code Section 16-6-4, unless the person was convicted of a misdemeanor offense;(x) Enticing a child for indecent purposes in violation of Code Section 16-6-5;(xi) Sexual assault against persons in custody in violation of Code Section 16-6-5.1;(xii) Incest in violation of Code Section 16-6-22;(xiii) A second conviction for sexual battery in violation of Code Section 16-6-22.1;(xiv) Aggravated sexual battery in violation of Code Section 16-6-22.2;(xv) Sexual exploitation of children in violation of Code Section 16-12-100;(xvi) Electronically furnishing obscene material to minors in violation of Code Section 16-12-100.1;(xvii) Computer pornography and child exploitation in violation of Code Section 16-12-100.2;(xviii) Obscene telephone contact in violation of Code Section 16-12-100.3; or(xix) Any conduct which, by its nature, is a sexual offense against a victim who is a minor or an attempt to commit a sexual offense against a victim who is a minor.

(B.1) “Dangerous sexual offense” with respect to convictions occurring between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2017, means any criminal offense, or the attempt to commit any criminal offense, under Title 16 as specified in this subparagraph or any offense under federal law or the laws of another state or territory of the United States which consists of the same or similar elements of the following offenses:

(i) Aggravated assault with the intent to rape in violation of Code Section 16-5-21;(ii) Kidnapping in violation of Code Section 16-5-40 which involves a victim who is less than 14 years of age, except by a parent;(iii) Trafficking a person for sexual servitude in violation of Code Section 16-5-46;(iv) Rape in violation of Code Section 16-6-1;(v) Sodomy in violation of Code Section 16-6-2;(vi) Aggravated sodomy in violation of Code Section 16-6-2;(vii) Statutory rape in violation of Code Section 16-6-3, if the individual convicted of the offense is 21 years of age or older;(viii) Child molestation in violation of Code Section 16-6-4;(ix) Aggravated child molestation in violation of Code Section 16-6-4, unless the person was convicted of a misdemeanor offense;(x) Enticing a child for indecent purposes in violation of Code Section 16-6-5;(xi) Sexual assault against persons in custody in violation of Code Section 16-6-5.1;(xii) Incest in violation of Code Section 16-6-22;(xiii) A second conviction for sexual battery in violation of Code Section 16-6-22.1;(xiv) Aggravated sexual battery in violation of Code Section 16-6-22.2;(xv) Sexual exploitation of children in violation of Code Section 16-12-100;(xvi) Electronically furnishing obscene material to minors in violation of Code Section 16-12-100.1;(xvii) Computer pornography and child exploitation in violation of Code Section 16-12-100.2;(xviii) Obscene telephone contact in violation of Code Section 16-12-100.3; or(xix) Any conduct which, by its nature, is a sexual offense against a victim who is a minor or an attempt to commit a sexual offense against a victim who is a minor.

(C) For purposes of this paragraph, a conviction for a misdemeanor shall not be considered a dangerous sexual offense and conduct which is adjudicated in juvenile court shall not be considered a dangerous sexual offense.

Our Georgia Law Firm Handles Criminal Defense (including sex crimes), DUI and Personal Injury

As this page clearly shows, being indicted or arrested for a sex crime justifies immediately finding the best criminal defense attorney near me in Atlanta metro for a FREE consultation. Fighting such cases to try to prevent a permanent stigma and ostracism is critical.

When it comes to defending yourself against a sex offense charge in Georgia, only selecting the most experienced sex crime attorney makes sense. Not only is the prison time a nightmare but think of being registered and reporting for the remainder of your life.

So, the stakes are extraordinarily high in circumstances such as these. Call our 24-hour number for a FREE lawyer consultation. (404) 567-5515. Obtaining aggressive legal advocacy offers the best chance to achieve a positive outcome. To learn more about how Larry Kohn, a sex crimes lawyer in Georgia with our law office can help during this time of personal crisis, contact us today.