Sex Offender Registration

How CPC § [Section] 290 Registration Works

California Penal Code [CPC] §290 is the state's Sex Offender Registration Act. Registration requires that the chief of police of the city in which you reside, or the sheriff of the county (if you reside in an unincorporated area or a city that has no police department), as well as the chief of police of a University of California campus, a campus of the California State University system, or any community college campus (if you reside on a campus or its facilities), be informed of your presence within five working days of changing your residence or entering a community to reside.

Under current law, anyone who commits a crime listed in the statute is required to register “for the rest of his or her life while residing in California[ ] or while attending school or working in California.”[1] But Senate Bill [SB] 384 changes this as of January 1, 2021. SB 384 establishes three “tiers” requiring differing registration timelines for differing grades of offense. Offenders will be required to register for durations ranging from five (5) years[2] to their whole lives under the amended law, depending upon the ‘tiers in which their offenses are listed.[3]

The Three Sex Offender Tiers Established Within Senate Bill 384

a.     “Tier One” Offenders; Examples of “Tier One” Offenses

 

i.               “Tier One” Offenders

Senate Bill 384 requires that those who commit “Tier One” crimes register for a minimum of ten (10) years. “Tier One” offenders are those who commit Misdemeanor sex offenses as well as those who commit offenses listed in Section 290 which are not “serious” or “violent” felonies punishable under California's “Three Strikes” system. Such persons are required to petition for removal from the registry at the end of the registration period.

ii.              Examples of “Tier One” Offenses

Sexual Battery (CPC §243.4)- which occurs when anyone touches an intimate part of another person while that person is restrained. The touching must've been against the will of the person touched, and the touching had to have been for sexual arousal, gratification, or sexual abuse. Only the Misdemeanor form of Sexual Battery is a “Tier One” offense.

Inducing Sex by Fraud (CPC §266c) – which involves inducing another into a sex act with consent procured by a false or fraudulent representation or any falsehood made to create fear. Only the Misdemeanor form is a “Tier One” offense.

Arranging Meeting with Minor for Lewd Purpose (CPC §288.4) – which occurs when anyone arranges to meet with a minor to expose him- or herself, or to have the minor expose him- or herself, or to engage in lewd behavior.[4] Arranging Meeting with Minor for Lewd Purpose is a “Tier One” offense if you don't have a prior sex crime on your record and if you don't arrive at the arranged place around the time you'd set for your meeting.

Indecent Exposure (CPC §314) – is a crime involving exposing oneself in any public place, or in any place where people who might to be offended or annoyed are present, or assisting anyone to expose him- or herself. The Misdemeanor form of Indecent Exposure is a “Tier One” offense.

Annoying or Molesting a Child (CPC §647.6) – which occurs when anyone “annoys or molests any child under 18 years of age[.]”[5]  It is a “Tier One” offense if you have not been convicted previously of a crime listed in Section 290 and you do not have a prior conviction under §647.6.

b.     “Tier Two” Offenders; Examples of “Tier Two” Offenses

 

i.               “Tier Two” Offenders

Those persons designated “Tier Two” offenders will be required to register for a minimum of twenty (20) years. All “Tier Two” offenders committed specified sex offenses punishable under the state's “Three Strikes” system or were adjudicated guilty of Annoying or Molesting a Child (see above) on more than one occasion. (The relevant forms are listed by section in SB 384.[6]) “Tier Two” offenders will be required to petition for removal from the registry at the end of their registration period.

ii.              Examples of “Tier Two” Offenses

Incest (CPC §285) – a crime in which people related closely enough by blood that their marriage would be declared void then marry each other (or who, being fourteen years or older, have sex while being in the same degree of relation).

Sodomy (CPC §286) – which involves “sexual conduct consisting of contact between the penis of one person and the anus of another person. Any sexual penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime[.]”[7] It is a “Tier Two” offense when, for example, “the victim is at the time unconscious of the nature of the act and this is known to the person committing the act[.]”[8]

Lewd Acts On A Child (CPC §288) – which occurs whenever anyone willfully commits any lewd act upon the body, or any body part, of a minor under the age of fourteen years, intending at the time to arouse, appeal to, or gratify the sexual desires of him- or herself, or the minor.[9]

Contacting Minor With Intent To Commit Certain Felonies (CPC §288.3) – occurs whenever a person “contacts or communicates with a minor, or attempts to contact or communicate with a minor, who knows or reasonably should know that the person is a minor, with intent to commit an offense specified in”[10] the statute with the minor.[11]

Sexual Penetration (CPC §289) – a crime which involves acts of illegal sexual penetration. “Tier Two” versions include penetration after “threatening to retaliate in the future against the victim or any other person”[12] and penetration when “the victim is at the time unconscious of the nature of the act” if this is “known to the person committing the act or causing”[13] the act.

Annoying or Molesting a Child (CPC §647.6) – which occurs when anyone “annoys or molests any child under 18 years of age[.]”[14] It's a “Tier Two” offense if you have two convictions (or more) for violating Section 647.6 on your record or if you have been convicted previously of a crime listed in Section 290 and are then convicted under CPC §647.6.

 

c.     “Tier Three” Offenders; Examples of “Tier Three” Offenses

i.               “Tier Three” Offenders

Those persons designated “Tier Three” offenders will be required to register for their lifetimes. “Tier Three” offenders include those who commit the most serious violent sex offenses, like forcible Rape, and those committed to state mental hospitals as sexually violent predators.

ii.              Examples of Tier Three Offenses

Rape (CPC §261) – a crime involving sexual intercourse with a person who's not the spouse of the perpetrator. It may involve threats or use of force and always requires overcoming the free will of the victim. Rape[15] requires lifetime registration in most cases.

Sexual Battery (CPC §243.4)- which occurs when anyone touches an intimate part of another person while that person is restrained, the touching is against the will of the person touched, and the touching is for sexual arousal, gratification, or sexual abuse. The Felony form involves injury occurring to the victim while restrained, in which case the crime is a “Tier Three” offense.

Kidnapping For Robbery, Rape, or Other Sex Offenses (CPC §209) – involves a person being kidnapped so the offender may commit Robbery,[16] Rape, Spousal Rape,[17] Oral Copulation,[18] Sodomy,[19] or a violation of a law referenced in the statute (namely, Section 264.1, 288, or 289).

Sodomy (CPC §286) – involves “sexual conduct consisting of contact between the penis of one person and the anus of another person. Any sexual penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime[.]”[20] It's a “Tier Three” offense when, for example, the victim is unconscious, or when force or threats are used, or when the crime is committed with one or more partners.

Lewd Acts On A Child (CPC §288) – which involves willfully committing any lewd act upon the body, or any body part, of a minor under the age of fourteen years, intending to arouse, appeal to, or gratify the sexual desires of him- or herself or the minor.[21] It's a “Tier Three” crime when, for example, force is used, or when the victim is fourteen or fifteen years of age and the suspect is at least ten years older.

Arranging Meeting with Minor for Lewd Purpose (CPC §288.4) – which occurs when anyone arranges to meet with a minor to expose him- or herself, or to have the minor expose him- or herself, or to engage in lewd behavior.[22] It's a “Tier Three” offense if you have a prior sex crime on your record or if you arrive at the arranged meeting place around the time you'd set to meet.

Showing or Sending Harmful Material to Seduce a Minor (CPC §288.2) – the crime of Showing or Sending Harmful Material to Seduce a Minor occurs whenever anyone knowingly distributes to a minor harmful matter depicting a minor engaged in sexual conduct. The intent must be to both arouse, appeal to, or gratify sexual desire and to engage in sexual intercourse, sodomy, or oral copulation with the other person.  

Oral Copulation or Sexual Penetration With Child Ten Years of Age or Younger (CPC §288.7) – a crime which occurs whenever anyone eighteen “years of age or older [ ] engages in sexual intercourse or sodomy [or oral copulation] with a child who is 10 years of age or younger[.]”[23]

Aggravated Sexual Assault of A Child (CPC §269) – which involves commission of any of the crimes listed in the statute “upon a child who is under 14 years of age and seven or more years younger”[24] than the offender.

What Must I Do To Register As A Sex Offender In California?

 

a.     General Duties

 

As noted previously, sex offender registration requires that you inform the chief of police of the city in which you reside, or the sheriff of the county (if you reside in an unincorporated area or a city that has no police department), as well as the chief of police of a University of California campus, a campus of the California State University system, or any community college campus (if you reside on a campus or its facilities), of your presence within five working days of entering a community to reside or changing residence. The duty attaches as soon as you are freed, or complete your sentence, or are released from a mental institution, whichever is earliest.[25]

You must register in person. Personal identifying information, which includes your name[26] and address, must be provided. There's an additional obligation imposed to the effect that you must reregister within five working days of your first birthday following initial registration, or following a change of address, and you must continue thereafter to do so within five working days of every birthday.

b.     Registration After Moving

Moving, as noted above, triggers the duty to register as a sex offender in California. You'll have to present yourself to the appropriate authority every time you change address. This must be done within five days of relocation. This is true even if you only live, study, or work in California on a temporary basis and maintain your actual residence in another state.

Remember: You must register every address you maintain. This applies even if you have multiple addresses. If you maintain addresses in multiple cities, furthermore, you'll have to register with law enforcement in each locality.

c.     Duties of Violent Sexual Predators

Special registration obligations apply to those adjudicated violent sexual predators. California Penal Code §290.012(b) establishes that sexually violent predators “as defined in Section 6600 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, shall, after” their “release from custody, verify” addresses “no less than once every 90 days[.]” This must include their “place of employment, including the name and address”[27] of their employers.

d.     Transient Registration

Section 290 provides that transient persons (i.e., persons who maintain no permanent address) must register with the law enforcement agency of the area within which they are physically present. This must be done a minimum of once in each thirty-day period. Additionally, “[i]f a transient is not physically present in any one jurisdiction for five consecutive working days, he or she [must] register in the jurisdiction in which he or she is physically present on the fifth working day following release” from incarceration or a mental institution. Transients must also register “with the chief of police of a campus of the University of California, the California State University, or [any] community college if […] physically present upon [any] campus or in any of its facilities.”[28]

Further obligations include the duty to reregister as transient persons if they become homeless after initial registration of their addresses and the duty to tell law enforcement of the area in which they're present if they intend on leaving the state, and of any plans they have to return, at least five working days before relocating outside California.

What Does “Megan's Law” Mean for Sex Offender Registration?

Under “Megan's Law,” sex offenders must register and notify local communities of living within their areas. The law also requires that personal information of sex offenders must be gathered by the California Department of Justice, which, in turn, makes the information available via the “Megan's Law” website. Offenders there are categorized based on the severity of their offenses and whether they have prior convictions for sex offenses.

The website usually presents the names, the personal images, the offenses and the personal identifying characteristics of registered offenders. These characteristics include general information, like height and weight, as well as more particular facts, like the presence of scars or tattoos, or even the use of an alias (or aliases). Whether the public information also includes the offender's address depends on whether he or she committed a serious sex crime listed in Section 290.046(b)(2)(A)-(U)[29] and whether she or he has a prior sex offense conviction listed in Section 290.046(c)(2)(A)-(E). Persons who committed less serious sex offenses (which are listed in Section 290.046(d)(2)(A)-(L)) will have only their zip codes disclosed.[30]

Note: The law permits public registration disclosure exclusion for those who've committed none of the   offenses mentioned in Section 290.046 and those who, though they were convicted of a sex crime,[31]  have applied successfully for Department of Justice Internet exclusion. Persons in these groups will have none of their personal information posted online. 

Removing the Duty to Register as A Sex Offender

There are three means of being relieved of the duty to register as a sex offender: Expungement; a Certificate of Rehabilitation; and/or a Gubernatorial (Governor's) Pardon.

a.     Expungement

The process of Expungement allows you to withdraw a plea of guilty or no contest if you've “fulfilled the conditions of probation for the entire period of probation, or” you've “been discharged prior to the termination of the period of probation, or in any other case in which a court, in its discretion and the interests of justice, determines”[32] that you should be permitted to withdraw your prior pleading. Note, however, that Expungement itself does not permit you to cease registering as sex offender.

Many sex crime guilty pleadings cannot be expunged. For example, Expungement isn't possible if you've been convicted of Lewd Acts On A Child, Possession Of Child Pornography,[33] or a Felony act of Statutory Rape.[34] Expungement is a prerequisite for receiving a Governor's Pardon in most cases.

b.     Certificate of Rehabilitation

 

You may apply for a Certificate of Rehabilitation following conviction for a Misdemeanor sex crime, but only if you've resided in California for five years after the earlier of: 1) completion of your sentence; OR, 2) finishing Probation or parole.[35]  There may be an additional waiting period of two to five years, depending on the offense of which you were convicted, per CPC §4852.03.[36] However, if your application for a Certificate of Rehabilitation is granted, the request will be treated automatically as a petition for a Pardon and will be sent to the Governor. To apply for a Certificate of Rehabilitation, you'll submit an application to the Superior Court of your county of residence.

There are, however, people for whom a Certificate of Rehabilitation is unavailable, including those who were convicted of sex crimes like Lewd Acts On A Child and Forced Oral Copulation. The denial of a Certificate of Rehabilitation does not, however, deny the Governor the power to issue a Pardon under “extraordinary circumstances.”[37] A Certificate of Rehabilitation does permit you to cease registering as sex offender.

c.     Gubernatorial (Governor's) Pardon

 

The Governor's Pardon process is particularly useful for persons who wish to be relieved of a conviction incurred for a sex crime. Note, however, that there are ordinarily preconditions to considering a Pardon application, including discharge from jail or prison, and at least ten years of lawful behavior following the end of one's sentence.

While the Governor has full authority over grant of pardons, furthermore, you cannot be pardoned if you've committed two (or more) felonies unless a majority of the justices of the California Supreme Court recommend that you be awarded the pardon. Unfortunately, since Pardon power is vested exclusively in the Governor's Office, there's no mechanism that compels the Governor to seek the state Supreme Court on these matters.[38] If it is issued, a Governor's Pardon does permit you to cease registering as sex offender.

Who Can Help If I Have Problems with Registering as A Sex Offender?

 

The State of California treats registering as a sex offender as a serious obligation. If you must register as a sex offender, it's essential that you retain a skilled, dedicated criminal defense attorney as soon as possible. Your rights, freedom, and livelihood may be at stake.

 

The attorneys at the Kann California Defense Group have an excellent understanding of the local courts and an extensive knowledge of California's criminal justice system. We can represent you in Ventura, Santa Clarita, Los Angeles, Encino, Pasadena and many other Southern California cities. If you or someone you know must register as a sex offender, our attorneys will analyze the facts of your situation, help you to understand your obligations and work to protect your rights.

Contact the Kann California Defense Group today to schedule a free and confidential consultation.