Virginia Sex Offender Registry Basics
If you are found guilty of certain sex crimes in Virginia, you may be required to register with the Virginia State Police and your name will be included in the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. Being included on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry means that your inclusion, and some details of your convictions, are searchable on the internet. Being included on the sex offender registry can mean that you are not eligible for certain jobs and volunteer positions, as well as many other consequences.
General Information
Like many other states, the Virginia Assembly passed a law to make the names of people who have been found guilty of certain sex crimes and crimes against children easier for the general public to find. The Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry Program is run by the Virginia State Police.
Registrants must register with the police within three days of getting released from a correctional facility. People mandated to be included on the list also have to reregister within three days of changing their addresses.
Crimes That Lead to Inclusion on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry
There are many crimes where conviction can land someone on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. “Sexually violent offenses” include:
- Abduction for an immoral purpose
- Rape
- Carnal knowledge of a minor where the victim is 13 or 14 and the perpetrator is more than five years older than the victim
- Forcible sodomy
- Object sexual penetration
- Aggravated sexual battery
- Sexual contact when the victim is under age 13
- Sexual battery where the offender is over the age of 18 and the victim is under the age of six
- Attempted rape, forcible sodomy object sexual penetration, aggravated sexual battery
- Taking indecent liberties with minor
- Taking indecent liberties with minor by person in custodial or supervisory relationship
- Production, distribution, financing, etc. of child pornography
- Sex trafficking
Getting Off The List
People who have not been convicted of a sexually violent crime or have not been found guilty of more than one crime that requires registration can ask to be taken off the list after 15 years. After the request is made a judge will hold a hearing to decide whether the person is a safety risk; if the judge believes that there is no safety risk, then the person’s name and information should be taken off the list.
Contact Our Leesburg, Virginia Criminal Defense Attorneys
If you are charged with a sex crime, it is important that you talk to a knowledgeable criminal defense attorney because you do not want to plead guilty to something that may mean inclusion on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. Our experienced criminal defense attorneys at Simms Showers, LLP in Leesburg, Virginia, can help defend you against these charges and work to keep your name off the registry.
