Sexually violent predator registration program
Sexually violent predator registration program – sex crime convictions that are considered to be violent in nature have additional requirements that go beyond registering as a sex offender with the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry. Different from the typical sex offender registration, someone who has been convicted of a violent crime that is sexual in nature may be subject to the sexually violent predator registration program. Sex crimes are very serious and sex crime convictions have severe consequences. Sex crimes require the expertise of a criminal defense lawyer.
In this blog we will talk about the topic of the sexually violent predator registration program. There is also some helpful information in our blogs, sexual offender registry part 1 and sexual offender registry part 2.
This blog is for informational purposes only and not intended to the replace the advice of a criminal defense attorney.
Notice
- If the District Attorney intends to seek to have a defendant classified as a sexually violent predator, he or she must give notice to the court within to timeframe provided for filing pre-trial motions under North Carolina General Statues 15A-952.
Requirements
Prior to sentencing a person as a sexually violent predator, the court shall order a pre-sentence investigation in accordance with North Carolina General Statute 15A-1332(c).
- By law, the study of the defendant and whether the defendant is a sexually violent predator shall be conducted by a board of experts selected by the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety. It is not simply a matter of the prosecutor and the defense attorney arguing facts.
The board of experts shall be composed of at least four people.
- Two of the board members must be experts in the field of the behavior and treatment of sexual offenders,
- One of these two board members shall be selected from a panel of experts in those fields provided by the North Carolina Medical Society and not employed with the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety or employed on a full-time basis with any other State agency.
- One of the board members must be a victims’ rights advocate, and
- One of the board members must be a representative of law enforcement agencies.
Hearing
In order to apply this classification, the court shall have a hearing on this subject where a defendant can be represented by a criminal defense lawyer.
- The judge will take the pre-sentencing report from the investigation under advisement
- The judge may hear arguments from the criminal defense lawyer
- The judge will make written findings with regard to whether or not the defendant will be found to be a sexually violent predator.
Consequences
If a person who is convicted of a sex crime is also classified as a sexually violent predator, several things will occur, including but not limited to:
- Lifetime sexual offender registration
- Additional documentation given by the defendant to the sheriff’s office above and beyond what would be required for sex offender registration in general,
- Satellite based monitoring
If you or a loved one has been charged with a sex crime, contact us. At Gilles Law, we handle these charges and all other criminal charges, whether you are facing North Carolina criminal charges, South Carolina criminal charges, or federal criminal charges.
