Sex Offender Notification-Due Process

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Felandrias Sedale Wright Professor Downs Correctional Counseling 1 December 2008 Sex Offender Registration, Notification, & Civil Commitment Statutes: Due Process vs Community Safety Whenever I have heard the term sex offender, I always pictured an adult who has had sexual intercourse with a minor child. As I began my research for this paper, I was informed that a sex offender is a person who has been criminally charged and convicted of, or has pled guilty to, or pled Nolo contendere to a sex crime. A sex crime can but does not always include sexual intercourse. In fact, crimes that are classified as sex crimes include: child sexual abuse, downloading pornographic material of persons under the age of 18, (child pornography), rape, statutory rape and even non-sexual offenses such as kidnapping. The term sexual offender is a broad term, with sexual predator being used to describe a more severe physical or repeat sexual offense. (Travis, Jeremy) Sexual offenders are also sometimes classified into levels, where the highest level offenders have the most aggravating crimes and thus, the most risk to the public and usually must register as a sex offender for their entire lives. Low level sexual offenders may serve only a probationary sentence and only register for 10 years as well as having less restrictions placed on them compared to higher level offenders. In the United States, whenever one of these crimes are committed, the persons responsible are considered a sex offender and are mandatorily required to register as a sex offender. Especially in the United States the person, if convicted, is most likely required to register with the respective jurisdiction's sex offender registry, a county- or statewide database that is often public and accessible to everyone through the internet or other means. Because of the easy accessibility of the registrar’s personal
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