Member Submission: Age of Consent
Following was sent in by a member.
I recently spoke to an attorney in Georgia. I was inquiring about the possibility to relocate and my residency and registration requirements as well as the time frame and procedure to be removed from Georgia registry. He informed me a few things but one thing that sticks out is that due to the age of my victim which I was convicted for, 17, I may not ever have to register in Georgia because the age of consent there is 16.
However, in my opinion, the fact that I’m required to remain in Florida registry forever may trump that and force me to register plus as long as I’m alive, in Florida or not, I’ll always always always have to follow travel restrictions to other states as well as international.
After speaking to the attorney, I researched age of consent throughout the country. In fact, there’s only a handful of states where the age of consent is 18. Many are 17, and a very large number, 16. Which is amazing. If I were just north of here when the incident occurred, I wouldn’t have gone to jail, been convicted, or have to register for life. It’s unbelievable how different every state is on something so, not only common, but criticized.
Just wanted to share and welcome any thoughts, or additional facts.
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Your situation (as mine and so many others) CLEARLY illustrates that there is a need to FUND THE OUT OF STATE challenge for the very reason that even if you could move to another state he WILL have to register because Florida has decided to list him – me – ALL OF US forever!
WHY? To artificially inflate their sex offender numbers and make it seem that a registry is needed – when the FACTS are that over HALF those listed are not even living in the state!
You think they are going to remove anyone when it benefits the state to keep you listed forever! NO – not unless we collectively challenge this is court!
If you want to get your son off the list then you and everyone else who wants to be free of Florida’s claws holding you down for the rest of your life better fight for it!
Fund the Out Of State challenge so that we can all move OUT of Florida and ON with our lives!! You will find the link to donate “hidden” ALL THE WAY at the bottom of the homepage of this site.
I am out of State and helped donated monies for ex post facto suit because it help me out in the long run. If Register people in Florida helped donated to the out of state fund it blow the Fla Sex offender list apart. I understand monies are tight. but if we were to help one another with lawsuits instead of being all about me we could hurt Florida badly. This state is the worst state in the United States a lot of other States look at Florida for their guidance to establish laws If we don’t help each other.WE wont be allowed to live any where. ” We have hope. Rebellions are built on hope.”Rogue One Star wars
COME TO FLORIDA ON VACATION AND LEAVE A LIFETIME REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER
A registered individual goes to Florida on vacation, does the right thing and registers with the Sheriffs office in the county he is vacationing presuming he’ll only be on the registry during the time he is in Florida. WRONG!
Although he is only required to register in his home State for 10 years and eventually is removed at the end of 10 years, he will be on the Florida sex offender registry for life! That’s because Florida, to inflate their registry count, keeps people on its public sex offender registry after they returned to their home state, moved out of Florida, were deported or even died!
The purpose of “Megan’s Law” is to inform the public of “dangerous” people in their communities. But what purpose does Florida’s registry serve when the individual is no longer in the community and no longer in the state? Only to shame for life!
Worse, Florida is perhaps the only state that allows its registry to be indexed by search engines. Meaning; if you Google your name, your sex offender flyer comes right up. As harmful as this is for registrants in Florida, it’s particularly harmful and unnecessary for a registrant who is no longer in the state, who is not on a publicly indexed registry in their state or who has been removed from the registry in their home state.
Less than half the people on the Florida sex offender registry are living in Florida communities. Less than half!
Individuals on the Florida registry who are no longer in Florida, coordinated in conjunction with the Florida Action Committee, are looking to bring a lawsuit against the State seeking their removal from the Florida registry. If anyone is interested in participating or contributing to the challenge, please contact [email protected].
i think i remember reading something, it may have been in IN. where someone challenged state law cause their conviction was from out of state and they were being treated differently than other IN state citizens and they went to court under = protection under the law and one. so good luck
That’s incredible news about Georgia. My conviction 12 years ago was in Illinois for child pornography possession, and the victim was 16 years old according to the indictment. My wife and I like to visit Georgia in the winter and to not be required to register there would be godsend. Could you give me the name of the lawyer? I would like to follow up on my own.
I can only speak to how it is in Michigan. Here, the registration law states that if you were convicted of a CSC in another state which required you to register there, you also have to register if you move to Michigan. Make sure you read each state’s actual law carefully before you assume that their laws are actually logical. Age of consent here is 16. Interestingly, I knew a guy here who had moved from Kentucky with his 15-year-old wife. His local prosecutor tried to go after him for having sex with an under aged girl, but Michigan had to honor his marriage from that other state. Even attorneys struggle to figure out the differences in law from state to state. I also knew a fellow who was registered in Michigan, but was told when he moved to Georgia that he didn’t have to register there. I never got the details about his case, but it sounds like it might be worth investigating Georgia’s laws and how they are applied to new residents.
Deliberately or not, that lawyer misled you. OCGA 42-1-12(e)(6) requires registration in Georgia if you are registered in another state, regardless of offense. Comparison of elements isn’t required unless your offense didn’t require registration in the state you left, but would in Georgia.
Pretty sure there are constitutional problems with that as well, but since when has constitutionality been a factor in registry law?