Sex offender registration – Virginia criminal lawyer on challenging the law

Sex offender registration prosecutions need to be fully fought, says Virginia criminal lawyer

Sex offender registration requirements in Virginia make it a crime for those with applicable sex crime convictions not to register and re-register as a sex offender as required under the law. As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I know that those required to so register prefer to avoid it, but avoiding mandatory registration invites being found and prosecuted for not doing so. Va. Code § 18.2-472.1.

Virginia criminal lawyer on defenses against prosecutions for failing to register as a sex offender

Jack Randall Young’s lawyer worked with what he could to challenge Young’s prosecution for failure to reregister as a sexually violent offender. Young v. Commonwealth of Virginia, ___ Va. App. ___ (July 30, 2019). Virginia’s sex offender registration law “requires j'[e]very person’ convicted before July 1, 1994, who is ‘serving a sentence of confinement’ or under community supervision’ for such an offense ‘on or after’ that date to ‘register and reregister’.” Id. At Young’s trial for failure to re-register as a violent sex offender, the prosecutor presented evidence that Young in 1986 was convicted of attempted forcible sodomy and aggravated sexual battery, and that he was still under community supervision beyond that July 1, 1994 cutoff date. Young’s efforts at challenging that 1994 cutoff date got frustrated with evidence that his probation supervision extended beyond July 1, 1994, and that his 2014 guilty plea to failing to reregister effectively admitted that he was required to register.

Virginia criminal lawyer on challenging whether the evidence proves the defendant is the one listed as having a prior offense

Young also contended that with his name being so common, the evidence was insufficient to prove that he was the same Jack Young whose alleged predicate conviction was his. Young rejects this contention, starting with pointing out that “'[I]dentity of names carries with it a [permissive inference] of identity of person, the strength of which will vary according to the circumstances,’” and underlining that the evidence shows that fingerprinting andn Young’s VCIN report connects him as the same Jack Young convicted in 1986 for a reportable sex offense.

As a Virginia criminal lawyer, I know that efforts to avoiding to register as required under the sex offender registration law bring risks too high that the person will be successfuly prosecuted for such failure.

Virginia criminal lawyer Jonathan L. Katz pursues your best defense against felony, misdemeanor, DUI, and sex offense prosecutions. To discuss your case with Jon Katz in confidence, please call his staff at 703-383-1100 to schedule an appointment.