Sexoffender

[PREACHER]

I am a pastor and one of the people in my church was charged with a sex crime in the year 2000. Someone sent him child porn over the internet and he was charged with explotation. He plead guilty under the georgia first offender act and was given 5 yearson probation. About three months ago his probation officer said that due to a new law he now had to register as a sex offender even thoughheonly had three months left and ifhe did not he would be violated, so he did. They told him that since he plead under the first offenders act, that he would come out of the register and he was off probation which ends September 28,2005 is this true are did they trap him?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I am a pastor and one of the people in my church was charged with a sex crime in the year 2000. Someone sent him child porn over the internet and he was charged with explotation. He plead guilty under the georgia first offender act and was given 5 yearson probation. About three months ago his probation officer said that due to a new law he now had to register as a sex offender even thoughheonly had three months left and ifhe did not he would be violated, so he did. They told him that since he plead under the first offenders act, that he would come out of the register and he was off probation which ends September 28,2005 is this true are did they trap him?

If you are talking about entrapment, that is a different issue. Entrapment occurs when someone is induced to do something that they would not normally do, e.g. you wouldn't have bought drugs in a given situation but an undercover police officer just kept pushing the buttons until the defendant gave in. Regarding the issue you are talking about, I haven't seen the law. Some laws are retroactive, such as it appears this one is, and there are usually constitutional issues with regard to their legality. At this point, assume that it is correct. I'm not sure how registering may harm him but at least he is almost finished with his sentence so this issue might become moot shortly.

 

[freedomfighter4]

Your friend was lucky

To only get probation for child porn, most staes have mandatory prison time.

Kinda suprising in Georgia, I thought it to be a conservative "Hang 'em high" state?