Certain Crimes in Minnesota Can Result in Registering as a Predatory Offender Forever.

Facing a rape charge, a date rape charge, kidnapping, prostitution, child molestation charge and a whole series of other charges in Minnesota can be horrifying.  Many of these come with prison commits. This means that you go to prison even if this is your first offense and have lived an otherwise “clean life.” All of this being said, there is something else that comes along with the jail and prison if you are convicted, and that is something called the Minnesota Predatory Offender Registry.  If you are facing charges or even if someone has made allegations against you, whether as an adult or a child, you need to sit down with an experienced Minnesota Sex Crimes Lawyer immediately.

“The original logic behind registering as a predatory offender was to be able to track a small group of the worst of the worst.”

The Minnesota Predatory Offender Registry was originally established back in 1991 as a law enforcement tool to track those predators who kidnap kids. Everybody in Minnesota remembers the Jacon Wetterling case. That really was the original intent but it has since changed dramatically. The problem is now what we have is an ever expanding list of people who have fallen under the statute and it has exploded to include more the 21,000 in Minnesota.  This includes a long list of new charges that were absolutely not contemplated in the original legislation.

“Registration requirements vary per the charge.  Sometimes, it is 10 years.  Sometimes it is life. However, the way that the statute is drafted could easily turn that 10 year requirement into a lifetime one. Seriously”

According to Minnesota statute, this may include but are not limited to certain charges involving:

• murder;

• kidnapping;

• criminal sexual conduct;

• indecent exposure;

• surreptitious intrusion;

• false imprisonment;

• solicitation, inducement, or promotion of the prostitution of a minor or engaging in the sex trafficking of a minor;

• certain prostitution related offenses;

• using a minor in a sexual performance;

• possessing pornographic work involving a minor and

• the person was sentenced as a patterned sex offender.

Remember this is a generalized list and there are lots of sub-parts that can impact your case differently. However, this never-ending expansion is based upon a false premise. The false logic behind expanding the registry is that people charged with sex offenses, predatory offenders will always continue to offend. Sadly, this false belief continues to echo in the court regardless of the multitude of studies that say otherwise.  According to those studies, after being released from prison, the chance of reoffending in the next 9 years is less than 8 percent.  The point is that 90 percent of all new offenses are committed by people never ever charged with a sex crime previously. In fact sex offenders actually less likely to ever be recharged with any crime compared to the rest of the prison populace in Minnesota. This is what you may be up against if you are charged with a sex crime here in Minnesota.

“Something that started as a statute to target adults going after kids now even includes targeting offenders who are kids themselves and then holding onto that registration forever.”

If you are charged with a sexual offense in Minnesota, the ramifications can be truly dire. As we have discussed, they include prison and extraordinarily long periods of time on probation but they also include this Predatory Offender requirement that can absolutely outlive both.  If this is you, contact an experienced sex crimes criminal defense attorney in Minnesota.

Jack Rice, a St. Paul based criminal defense attorney and Founder of Jack Rice Defense.  He is a Board Certified Criminal Law Specialist, a former prosecutor and former CIA Officer.  Contact Jack Rice Defense for a free confidential consultation or call 651-447-7650 or 612-227-1339.