OC Sheriff’s Office answers Questions about Sex Offender Registry

Recent questions to the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office regarding those on the Sex Offender Registry and to help educate citizens, the Sheriff’s Office is issuing a press release to clarify what the law says regarding these issues. In regards to questions that the Sheriff’s Office received regarding Sex Offenders and Halloween, Sgt. Kelly Winchester, who is the Sex Offender Registrar for the Sheriff’s Office, there are no restrictions placed on those who on the Registry except for those are on probation. “Probation requires them to stay at home from 5:30pm until 9pm on Halloween and Probation Officers will go out and check them,” says Sgt. Winchester. “There is nothing in the law that says that those on the Registry who are not on probation cannot hand out candy or nothing in the law that prevents them from taking their kids trick-or-treating if they have children or staying locked up in their house with no lights on for Halloween. However, if they are on probation and they do those things, it can be considered a violation of their probation.” There are also no restrictions on individuals who are not on probation from attending church or school events or pageants if they have a child who is participating in those activities, according to Sgt. Winchester. There are restrictions, though, on those on probation being within a certain distance in places where children are normally located. For instance, for certain offenses, an offender cannot live within one thousand feet of a school or day care center but there are certain stipulations that go along with that, such as if an offender was living there before the daycare or school was built. In addition, the law says that the offender does not have to move if an offender was living at that location before a certain date. It is also a possibility, according to Sgt. Winchester, that if someone on the Registry attends an event and they do not have a child who is participating, that an official of the school or of the facility where they are may ask them to leave the premises but that is totally up to the individual in control of the property. “If someone has a child and they share custody of that child or they are responsible for that child, so therefore, if they are taking them to some kind of event, they can’t just necessarily drop them off and not be there because they are responsible for their child,” continues Sgt. Winchester. “They are ultimately responsible for their child regardless of what happened in their past. If they are asked to leave, then the child would have to go with them.” In a follow-up to a previous press release issued Aug. 14, 2014 regarding those on the Sex Offender Registry and the internet, Sgt. Winchester says that those on the Registry must provide their IP address, e-mail addresses and user names from social media sties to her but there is nothing in the law that prohibits them from using the internet as long as they are not on probation and as long as they provide the required information. However, Sgt. Winchester advises that those on the registry to check the policies of a particular social media or internet sites to determine if they are allowed on that site or if there are restrictions in place. On a related note, there are stipulations on when an offender is to report to register and how often they are to register. If an offender does not report on time to register, then an arrest warrant will be issued charging the offender with failure to register.