Adam Walsh Act and sex offender registration
One of the crimes that has arguably the biggest negative stigma is that of the sex offender. A sex offender is someone who has committed one or more various sex crimes. Sex crimes include but are not limited to prostitution, child molestation, sexual assault, rape, and sending obscene content via text messages (i.e., sexting).
Although activities such as those listed above have been considered crimes for many years, sex crime as a whole and the treatment of someone deemed a sex offender was not applied consistently until the passage of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (Adam Walsh Act) in 2006. The Adam Walsh Act added to the existing Megan’s Law requirement. Megan’s law required a sex offender to report their whereabouts to local law enforcement. However, there were numerous sex offenders who were not reporting as required under Megan’s law.
Therefore, the Adam Walsh Act enhanced the registration process under Megan’s law by creating a national registry for all sex offenders. In addition, the Adam Walsh Act classified a sex offender into one of three categories, known simply as Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3.
The registry associated with the Adam Walsh Act (and under Megan’s law previously) is above and beyond any criminal sentence given out by a court as a part of a criminal conviction for a sex crime.
The national sex offender registry contains the following information about sex offenders: name, aliases, street address, photograph, description, and offense date, offense description, and conviction information.
Following are the types of sex crimes that fall within each tier and the registration requirements for sex offenders that fall within that tier.
Tier 1. Tier 1 is the lowest tier for registration. It applies to offenses that do not qualify for the more severe tiers. Tier 1 requires that sex offenders register for 15 years and update their registration information at least annually. Tier 1 sex crimes include but may not be limited to the following:
- Importuning
- Sexual contact with a minor
- Voyeurism
- Sexual imposition
- Public indecency
- Possession of child pornography
- Sexual contact without permission
Tier 2. Tier 2 requires that sex offenders register for 25 years and update their registration information at least semi-annually (i.e., at least once every six months). Tier 2 sex crimes include but may not be limited to the following:
- Sex trafficking or prostitution of a minor
- Coercion and enticement of a minor
- Transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- Abusive sexual contact with a minor
- Producing or distributing child pornography
- Conspiracy to commit any of the above
- Any offense committed by a Tier 1 offender
Tier 3. Tier 3 is the most severe category of sex crimes. Tier 3 requires that sex offenders register for life and update their registration information at least quarterly (i.e., at least once every three months). Tier 3 sex crimes include but may not be limited to the following:
- Rape
- Sexual acts with one who is impaired or unconscious
- Sexual acts or contact with a child under age 12
- Kidnapping of a minor
- Conspiracy to commit any of the above
- Any offense committed by a Tier 2 offender
Information in the sex offender registry is available to the public in some areas, allowing someone to look up registered sex offenders based on any of the recorded information. In addition, a registered sex offender is often subject to limitations as to where they can live, not being able to reside within a specific distance of places where children or families gather (e.g., schools, churches, parks, stadiums, airports, malls, apartment complexes).
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