Sex Offender Registry in Greenwich

Being charged with a sex crime can have a massive impact on your life. Aside from the social stigma that comes with sex crime charges, there can be greater implications on your life. Individuals charged and convicted of sex crimes are legally obligated to register with the sex offender registry in Greenwich. The registry is accessible to the general public, which means that potential employers can see these charges. Being on the sex offender registry can make finding housing difficult as well. An experienced sex crimes attorney can devote the time and resources necessary to building your defense before you face registry.

Sex Offender Registry Explained

The term sex offender registry refers to a database that anyone can search online to see if there is anyone that is a registered sex offender living in their neighborhood. There is no Greenwich sex offender registry, but there is a Connecticut state public registry and there is also a national public sex offender registry.

The national registry is pretty much a compilation of all of the states’ registries so that all the data is together in one place and then Connecticut, which is the most local version of our registry, keeps the registry on its Department of Emergency Service and Public Protection, which is Connecticut’s state police agency. They also maintain a local registry online.

The other possibility for registration is a database that is only accessible by law enforcement personnel, meaning that the police, the FBI, or other investigatory bodies would have access to it, but the public would not and that is called LEO registration, which is law enforcement only. A lot of times the prosecutor will want the public registration as opposed to the LEO, but it is something that an experienced Greenwich attorney can fight for.

Circumstances of Registration

Most sex crimes require someone to register, such as sexual assault in the first degree if someone is convicted of injury to a minor involving sexual contact or voyeurism, any of the crimes like that, especially involving people under 16 years old. There is going to be a mandatory registration on the public registry, that is for a length of at least 10 years, but it could be longer. It could be a lifetime registration depending on the sentence the judge imposes or the plea negotiation with the prosecutor. Sometimes, it could be worked out where it is less time or where it is law enforcement only, but it depends on the specific negotiations of that case.

The length of time someone might need to stay on the sex offender registry in Greenwich depends on a number of factors. A lot of the crimes, like sexual assault in the first-degree, risk of injury to a minor with sexual contact and voyeurism, require at least a 10-year registry, but, for other crimes, it could just depend on the crime, the specific allegations, and the plea negotiations with the prosecutor and the judge.

Different Levels of the Sex Offender Registry

An individual could have public registration and so if it is public, it will be on Connecticut’s database, as well as the national public searchable database. The other level of registry would be LEO or law enforcement registration, where only police and law enforcement would know about the individual’s status as a sex offender.

The determination of which level someone should register to be a part of is sometimes stipulated in a statue, but a lot of times the prosecutor or a judge will want it as part of a plea disposition or the alleged victim will want it. Often they want to do that to prevent other people from coming into contact with the person or from the same behavior being repeated, so all of those factors are taken together to see where they are going to have to register and for how long.

Impact of Being on the Registry

Being on the sex offender registry in Greenwich can majorly impact someone’s life. If it is a lifetime registration, it is always going to be searchable online and people could always go online and use the tools to find sex offenders in their neighborhood and see their name and also see what they were convicted of. Even if it does not end up being a lifetime registration, if there is any amount of time for this registration, people in the community will typically hear about it, know about it, and spread it, so even once they are no longer required to register, it is still going to be a known fact in the community.

During a one-time registration, an individual is probably not going to be allowed to live near schools, day cares, and those places, and it does depend on the circumstances of the actual case and of their probation, so every time they move, they might have to deal with that.

Disclosing to Employers

In some cases, employers would need to know if someone is on the sex offender registry. For example, someone that has to register as a sex offender most likely is not going to be allowed to work in schools, daycares, or anywhere where kids are around, although it does depend on the circumstances of that particular conviction, so in those instances, it would have to be disclosed for sure.

But generally, a lot of people, when they are hiring new employees, they Google them or use another search engine to see what is out there about the person and if it is out there, it is going to come up in the Google results and they are probably going to find out about it anyway.

Removal From the Registry

An individual cannot be removed from the registry until the sentence is over. Typically, it cannot be changed once the court sentences say for five or 10 years, a person is going to have to be registered for that whole time and they need to make sure they renew it and keep it updated so they are not facing another separate felony charge. Then, once the time expires that comes with the sentence, that is the only way they would be able to get removed from the sex offender registry in Greenwich. A capable attorney can help facilitate the process of being removed from the registry. Call our firm today.