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Los Angeles Failure to Register as Sex Offender Lawyers 
Failure to Register as a Sex Offender
Individuals required to register as a sex offender have five days from their birthday every year to register or update their information with law enforcement. If the person has recently moved, he or she has five days from the move-in date to register in the new area. Failure to register as a sex offender is a serious crime that may result in prison time. If you are facing charges for failing to register as a sex offender, please contact an experienced Los Angeles sex crime defense attorney to discuss your case.
California Penal Code Section 290
There are several sex crime convictions under California Penal Code section 290 that require sex offenders to register with their local police annually. These offenders "for the rest of his or her life while residing in California, or while attending school or working in California... shall be required to register with the chief of police of the city in which he or she is residing." Sex offenders attending school must also register with the chief of police of the college campus. When sex offenders move to a new area, they have five days to register with local authorities.
Penalties for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender
A failure to register conviction may lead to:
- Up to one year in county jail if the original sex crime was a misdemeanor
- Up to three years in California state prison if the original crime was a felony
- A strike under California's Three Strikes Law
Failure to register as a sex offender in California is a continuing offense. This means that you may be charged with this crime every year you fail to register.
Crimes that Require Registration
There are many sex crimes that force the convicted sex offender to register every year. A few of the crimes included in this list are:
- PC 261 - Rape
- PC 288 - Lewd Acts with a minor
- PC 311 - Child pornography
- PC 272 - Contributing to the delinquency of a minor
- PC 243.4 - Sexual battery
- PC 314 - Indecent exposure
Defending Failure to Register Charges
A prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant:
- Was convicted for one of the sex crimes listed in Penal Code 290
- Resided in California
- Had knowledge of the duty to register
- Willfully failed to register
The prosecution must prove all of the above to obtain a conviction.
The skilled Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers at Takakjian & Sitkoff, LLP have a long history of helping those charged with failure to register as a sex offender. In many cases, the defendant had no knowledge of the requirement to register or did not live in California at the time. In other cases, our defense attorneys have proved that the failure to register was not intentional or willful. The penalties of failing to register as a sex offender are severe. Please don't take a chance. Call an experienced Los Angeles sex crime defense lawyer at Takakjian & Sitkoff, LLP today for a free consultation and evaluation of your case.
If you have been arrested for failure to register as sex offender then please call us immediately for a FREE CONSULTATION at (888) 579-4844.
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