When a person has been ordered to Complete Sex Offender Registration in Douglas, Arapahoe or Denver County, and does any of the following items, he or she will be charged with Failure to Register as a Sex Offender, C.R.S. 18-3-412.5:
• Fails to show up at the designated law enforcement agency (like the Aurora Police Department) within the specified time to register.
• Submits false or incomplete information on the registration form.
• Provides false information to a probation officer, community corrections officer in Lakewood, or to a judge or magistrate after receiving a notice of the duty to register.
• Does not provide an address where the offender intends to live once he or she is released from incarceration in Denver.
• Knowingly provides false information to a law enforcement agency, Department of Corrections, or the Department of Human Services concerning the address where the person intends to live upon release from jail or the Department of Corrections.
• Fails to provide a current name and any former names.
• Fails to complete Sex Offender Registration in each jurisdiction in which the person resides upon changing an address, establishing an additional residence, or legally changing names.
• Fails to provide a correct date of birth or to sit for a photograph and fingerprints in Northglenn.
• Fails to complete a cancellation of registration form and file the form with local law enforcement in the jurisdiction in which the person will no longer reside.
• Fails to provide trailer or motor home address.
• Fails to provide e-mail addresses, instant messaging identities or chat room identities prior to using them, if required pursuant to C.R.S. 16-22-108.
Failure to Register as a Sex Offender is one of the only crimes where a person can be convicted of a felony for doing absolutely nothing at all (a crime of omission). If a person is required to register with the Lakewood Police in Jefferson County, and she waits in her house five days business days after her registration date, she will be arrested and charged. The crime of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender is a class 6 felony in Adams County and across Colorado if the offense requiring registration was a felony and a class 1 misdemeanor if the underlying offense was a misdemeanor. There are circumstances under which a person who is charged with Failure to Register as a Sex Offender can claim an affirmative defense (essentially a legal excuse).
If you have been ordered to complete Sex Offender Registration here or in any state and are now charged with Failure to Register as a Sex Offender in Colorado, you should contact an experienced Denver area criminal defense attorney as soon as possible. Be smart and exercise your right to remain silent, and call us at 303-731-0719. Together we can protect your future.