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| Register as a sex offender |
Being told you have to register as a sex offender for the rest of your life is a difficult pill to swallow. After moving to Florida in 2011 an individual received a letter from Florida Department of Law Enforcement FDLE requiring that he register as a sex offender due to an out of state conviction. This had an immediate and negative impact on his life. He was plastered on the FDLE sex offender website, required to get a driver’s license that designated him a sex offender, and was unable to continue with his normal life. He retained the services of a lawyer to try and help him remove his name and information from the sex offender registry. The lawyer correctly interpreted the dense sex offender statute and successfully sought his removal from the registry.
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| Remove From List |
The sole basis for FDLE requiring this person to register was an out-of state conviction. Although, section 943.0435(1)(a) defines a "sexual offender" as a person convicted of committing specified sexual offenses in Florida or similar offenses in another jurisdiction. The citizen was never required to register as a sex offender in his home State. Additionally, his out of state record was eventually sealed. Without a valid out of state “conviction” there is no basis to designate someone as a sexual offender in Florida. Sometimes people can have FDLE remove name, address, and photograph from the sex offender registry and direct the Florida Department of Motor vehicles to issue a license without a sex offender designation.
