What Crimes Require Sex Offender Registration

According to California Penal Code Section 290, anyone who is convicted of specific sex crimes must register as a sex offender. Formerly, a conviction for any sex crime required lifetime registration.

However, California Senate Bill (SB) 384 created a three-tier sex registration system which no longer makes lifetime registration for most offenses. Tier one is designated to the lowest offenders (minimum 10 years of registration), tier two is for mid-level sex offenders (minimum 20 years of registration), and teir three is for the highest offenders (lifetime registration).

The following are the sex crimes included in the three-tier sex registration system in California:

  • Tier one – Minimum 10 years on the registry
    • Misdemeanor sexual battery
    • Felony sexual battery
    • Misdemeanor sodomy
    • Some felony cases of sodomy where there is no force
    • Inducing sex by fraud
    • Enticing a child into a house of prostitution
    • Misdemeanor charge for arranging to meet with a minor for lewd purposes
    • Acts of penetration with a foreign object
    • Indecent exposure
    • Annoying a child
    • Misdemeanor child pornography
  • Tier oneMinimum 20 years of the registry
    • Rape when the victim is at least 18 years of age and unable to provide consent because of a mental disorder or physical disability
    • Incest
    • Sodomy with a minor under 14 years old and more than 10 years younger than the defendant
    • Sodomy when the victim is unable to provide consent because of a mental disorder or physical disability
    • Lewd acts with a minor under 14 years of age
    • Oral copulation with a minor under 14 years old and more than 10 years younger than the defendant
    • Oral copulation when the victim is unable to provide consent because of a mental disorder or physical disability
    • Contacting a minor with intent to commit a felony
    • Acts of penetration with a foreign object
    • Annoying a child as a second or subsequent offense
  • Tier three – Lifetime registry
    • Rape in most cases
    • Murder committed during the commission or attempted commission of rape or another type of forced sexual act
    • Sex trafficking children
    • Felony sexual battery
    • Spousal rape by force
    • Aiding a rape or acts of penetration with a foreign object
    • Aggravated sexual assault of child
    • Sodomy by force
    • Lewd acts with a minor under 14
    • Acts of penetration with a foreign object by force or duress
    • Oral copulation by force
    • Pimping and pandering with a minor
    • Continuous sexual assault of a child
    • Sex acts against a child 10 years of age or younger
    • Child pornography

If you have been arrested for a sex crime in Northern California, request a free consultation with our Fresno criminal defense attorney at The Law Office of Brian C. Andritch today.