Failure to Register Carries a VERY STIFF Penalty
A 40 year old man in Jacksonville is facing 10 years in prison and a quarter of a million dollar fine for failing to register as a sex offender.
The man, who committed a sexual offense in 1998, moved to Florida in June of 2014 and never registered. He obtained a Florida ID in August and was arrested in September for failure to register and for living within 1000 feet of a school/childcare facility/park/playground.
He had no other charges pending. His sexual offense was 17 years ago.
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Perhaps it’s a good time to bring to the attention … the idea that if … don’t like the idea of being “black listed” by people like… who took to Twitter and made a comment about getting all information about … supporters as a way to continue to harass and dox them, then perhaps they should take the SOR into the same consideration. I don’t see why we can’t get the lawmakers to agree (maybe federally so that each state can’t go changing it) to RELEASE people from the OBLIGATION of SOR once their full sentence is completed (probation/parole/community service/fines).
If we can’t get it abolished, we should at least be fighting to get people off this … once they are fully out of the DOC’s jurisdiction of control.
We have a FEDERAL LAW across all 50 states and territories that you have to be 18 to vote and join the armed forces and 21 to drink. So please don’t tell me that it can’t also be put into federal national law that when someone completes their sentence, they don’t have to continue being on a faux probation having to adhere to damn near the same restrictions as you would on actual probation.
…
Now let’s see if I get censored here, too.
Really? A $250,000 fine just for failure to register? This country is a total POS, I am sorry, but it’s truly crap.
Pretty sure no fine was assessed.
I am one of the fools who moved to Florida and I am a registered sex offender. My offense was adjudicated in 1988. Nearly 30 years ago. No one walked me through “how to be a sex offender”. It was hysteria then. In 2004 I got notice from the state I was living in that I had to register. I did so. Just went to local police department. No where I could live restrictions. I was luck as my records were sealed so a background check came out clean. I worked and I did well. I was human. A good guy who loved his family and who addressed his issues in therapy and went through the re living of my years of sexual abuse. We. my girlfriend of 8 years and I, moved to Florida. Her dream to get away from snow. We didnt know the area. I was starting a new job, she was looking and our furniture was still up north. 3 weeks later we had a semblance of life again so I went and registered here. I was told I committed 2 felonies, not registered or have Florida ID with in 48 hours AND that I could not live in the home we leased. I lived in beat motels for a month as I desperately searched for a place for us to live. One night in Jan, a knock at my door and I was arrested.
$30000 bond looking at 10 years. I have a lawyer. I obviously lost my job as the detective spoke to them. Trial was set for next Monday but got moved yesterday. So I wait till mid December but Im told it will probably be moved again. My Girl friend..yes she knew before..is suffering. Thats all I care about. I have been punished my whole life..I must deserve it..SHE does not and that is the worst part of being alive..knowing the pain Im causing.her. The laws are stacked against us and no one cares.
hurting – please have your attorney contact legal@floridaactioncommittee.org – we are not attorneys but whatever resources we have (studies, case law, etc.) are theirs.
Thank you. I will do that. He was recommended by the Florida bar and has some experience but all assistance is appreciated. The year has taken too much of a toll on my Girlfriend and she is considering moving back north. I do not blame her. I never went to jail for my offenses but It seems Ill go to prison for moving here.
What was the outcome of your story as My boyfriend is going through the exact same thing we moved from NY to Florida and they charging him with failure to register and update ID in 48 hours
Lest to say, ignoring. laws or ignorance of laws is not a defense. Make damn sure if you come to Florida you realuze the laws in your state and the laws of compliance in florida. If you are a RSOL in another state, Florida gives you 24 hours to register with your local county sherriff once you have a permanent address. There is no wiggle room here. Then you must report to Florida DMV.
It’s actually 48 hours… here is the excerpt from the rules (taken from the FDLE FAQ Page – http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/FAQ.jsp)
If offenders or predators are visiting from another state he/she must report in person to the sheriff’s office within 48 hours of establishing a temporary residence in Florida. He/she is required to report within 48 hours from the time of his/her registration with the sheriff’s office to report in person to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) with a copy of the completed sexual offender/predator registration form to obtain a valid Florida identification card or driver’s license. Failure to comply with these registration requirements as provided by Florida statute is a felony of the 3rd degree.
So, if a registrant from another state plans to visit Florida, they should add an extra day onto their vacation as they can plan to spend time going to the local sheriff and waiting in line at the DMV. Note that it’s not ANY local Sheriff’s office, but the designated registration office in the County. If they don’t plan their accommodations to be close to that office, it might require some significant travel time to get there. Also note that the DMV will charge you $25 for your ID card. Once you’ve factored in the additional day to take care of the administrative BS and the costs associated with shuttling yourself around (by rental or cab), you might discover that visiting Florida is just too much of a hassle for sex offenders, which is likely what the legislator’s agenda was.
this is wrong on so many levels it stops my breath. Why oh why does someone plea out to such a charge. I pray there is a chance of a turn over process, talk about over sentencing
Yes, I was sent to prison for that here in Florida. My crime happened in 1990. Recieved 5 years. Did my time. Paid my debt to society. Made amends to the “victim” and her family. Came to Florida 10 years later. A few years later I was i was arrested for not registering. I wanted to fight it. I couldn’t afford an attorney and my public defender said we had no chance and told me I should accept the plea deal. I got 2 years. Did and still felt that I shouldn’t have to register and I didn’t.4 years later I again was arrested for not registering and faced 8 felony counts of not registering. This time my public defender listened to my plea and realized I wasn’t a threat to anyone and went to bat for me. I was facing 19 years. She got me 4 years of standard probation with no fees just the one stipulation of registering twice a year. But these ordinances have forced me to be homeless which protects no one and only serves to punish me and my family for a dumb mistakes of having sex with a teenage girl at a wild drunken party 25 years ago. Until we start running for these legislators seats and have people on the inside, I don’t see any changes that are going to happen in my lifetime.
Did your time and paid your debt to society? Made amends to the “victim”???? Your “story” makes you sound oh, so innocent and I get the feeling that you believe your rights have been violated in some way. SEX OFFENDERS HAVE NO RIGHTS!! The quote-unquote around the word VICTIM?? Do you feel that your victim was not really a victim? Of course your “victim” was not really a victim. ALL OF YOU SEX OFFENDERS PROCLAIM YOUR INNOCENCE. None of you are guilty…you the scumbag that raped a girl at a WILD PARTY, men who molest their own children, neighborhood children and relatives, those predators that stand behind the bushes, snatch children up and rape them and then murder them….dismembering their bodies, and on and on. YOU ARE A SEX OFFENDER FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!!! A brand new law needs to be put in place. EVERY convicted sex offender needs to have a LIFE-TIME electronic monitor attached to their bodies to ensure that you parasites are never allowed to claim another “VICTIM”.
are you going to pay for it cause someone has to. also remember your words when your loved one becomes a sex offender or you are accused. or they expand the registry ore to include something that you have done. and don’t say they won’t they already started animal and domestic registry. the when you and/or your loved one is included in a registry lets make sure you remember your words.
As a survivor of molestation I completely agree with this comment.. It makes me sick to think these monsters get to do as the please and believe they have the right to privacy about it.. This story I feel is about my abuser.
I was molested by my uncle in 1997 when I was 11 years, the year before her did the same think to my older sister..We lived in a small town in Oklahoma.. He spent 13 months in county jail before he pled guilty in 1998. A few months later he moved to Florida and didn’t register for years. I found out that he lived less than a block from a school and sent an email to the city hall where he lived and he was arrested and spent 3 years in prison. He moved back to Oklahoma when he was released, again he didn’t register but before he was caught he moved back to Florida in 2014, to the same place as before and again failed to comply.. I had no idea he was in prison again til recently and I hope he got the max for what he has done. Not for myself but for every child prevented from going through what I have gone through and for every survivor of his abuse.. SEX OFFENDERS ARE SICK, THERE IS NO CURE, NOTHING CAN BE DONE TO MAKE AMENDS TO THE VICTIM. WE (THE VICTIMS) HAVE TO LIVE WITH WHAT HAPPENED FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES. IT EFFECTS EVERY RELATIONSHIP WE HAVE FROM FAMILY, FRIENDS, PARTNERS, EVEN OUR CHILDREN.. WHY SHOULD OUR ABUSERS BE ALOUD TO TO LIVE AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED?
I rented internet access in 1996. Someone sent a bunch of cp pics. I was exhonorated from that protion but with the dawn of the internet i pled to trasport. Not posession nor viewing nor anything like that. No special circumstances (age) All was ok until the registry. I cannot imagine your plight and damage to your person and soul. But how would i fit into your statement? Just because of the state i moved to i am on this. There are monsters and sometimes justice does not reach far enough but sometimes it goes too far. I am truly sorry for what happened to you at the hands of the monster. I will not insult with comparison but would like to define another end of that spectrum that for some reason we are all grouped in.
I think that you may have wandered onto the wrong forum.
I know people who r on the sex offender list were falsele accused and some people think cause theyre on the list they can accuse them just to get them in trouble and some things happen when they were younger they need to have a second chance after all no one is perfect go gave u a second chance pray for the person they need help like anyone else everyone is someone to jesus
BN- Go screw Yourself. I hope it comes and finds Your family, you little Bitch.
Barb, WHY plea out? The prosecutor told me that I was facing 45 years in prison for a crime I didnt commit.
We got back into court and my Public “pretender” told the court that he was “involved in a high profile murder trial and he didnt even LOOK at my case”–in 9 months!!! I asked for a new attorney and the prosecution said NO, it wasnt my choice. (WHAT???)
My Public “pretender” wouldnt even be present during the negotiation process outside the courtroom. I kept telling them I want to go to trial. Prosc. stated “you are going to prison, thats it”. So, without my “pretender” present, I negotiated from 45 years down to 4 months county time. If I was so guilty WHY did they negotiate for that time??
Four years later (probation) I was at my last hearing, to be released and the judge asked why I only got 4 months….?? The prosecutor stated “your Honor, the mother & daughter REFUSED to come to court and testify. We had to get a conviction ANY WAY WE COULD!!!” (I was arrested when the Jimmy Rice, Adam Walsh and Howard Steven Ault cases were going on)
My ex-wife stated after she took my late mothers inheritance ($250,000), A 2 car Race Team and left me with my truck and toolbox; she stated to her divorce attorney “Yes I lied, and I took the SOB for everything he got.
And I cant do a damned thing about it.
I tell you why. I was 17 years old, I had a learning disability, I Public Defender & there was NO SEXUAL REGISTRATION LAWS IN 1989. I was tricked by a lazy Lawyer. I’m a PRE-ACT OFFENDER RETROACTIVELY BEING PUNISHED FOR LIFE!!! I NEVER WOULD OF EVEN CONSIDERED A PLEA DEAL, IF I’D KNOW years after the fact the state would destroy my life. I was facing 25 years mandatory. Plea down to L & L. My plea agreement, I thought was a CONTRACT….Years later they are violating my rights applying it retroactive to me. It’s over 30 years ago (1)count (1) alleged victim. I can’t find work. It’s caused family issues and it’s affected my Mental Health. Every day I contemplate taking my own life. I don’t think I’m going to make it. I’m totally isolated. No Friendships, I get plenty of offers from the opposite sex, but I would never bring anyone into the Nightmare I live.