Wallin & Klarich Can Help Get Your Name Removed From The Megan’s Law Website (CPC 290.46)
California Penal Code Section 290.46, known as Megan’s Law, requires the California Department of Justice to maintain an internet website that posts information about California registered sex offenders. This website allows the public to easily access information about you if you are a registered sex offender including your name, home address, the sex crime you were convicted of, and any physically identifying information.
In some situations, the attorneys at Wallin & Klarich can assist you to apply with the Department of Justice to have your name excluded from the Megan’s Law website. You may apply for exclusion under Penal Code 290.46(e) (1) if you have been convicted of:
– A felony sexual battery under Penal Code 243.4
– A misdemeanor offense of annoying or molesting a child under Penal Code 647.6
– A felony violation for possessing, distributing or making child pornography under Penal Code 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 311.4, 311.10, or 311.11. In this situation you must submit to the Department of Justice a copy of a probation report filed in court that states all victims involved were at least 16 years of age or older when you committed the offense
– An offense that you have completed probation or are on probation for so long as you submit to the Department of Justice a certified copy of a probation report, pre-sentencing report, report prepared under Penal Code 288.1, or any other official court document that clearly shows that you were the victim’s parent, stepparent, sibling or grandparent and no oral copulation or penetration occurred at the time of the sexual offense.
The Megan’s Law website works alongside Penal Code Section 290, which requires you to register as a sex offender if you have committed certain sex crimes. Therefore, the exclusion of your information on the Megan’s Law website under Penal Code 290.46 does not terminate your duty to register as a sex offender.
You may also have your name removed from the Megan’s Law website through a certificate of rehabilitation. See Penal Code 4852.01 – 4852.21. A certificate of rehabilitation may also relieve you of the duty to register as a sex offender under Penal Code 290. A Wallin & Klarich defense attorney can assist you to file a petition for a certificate of rehabilitation if you have been convicted of a sex crime and have lived in California for the past five years. After you petition for a certificate of rehabilitation a hearing date will be set with the court where you can present evidence that you should be granted a certificate of rehabilitation. However, this option is not available if you have been convicted of certain sex crimes involving children and minors.
The last way you may have your name removed from the Megan’s Law website is through a governor’s pardon (See Penal Code 4852.01 – 4852.21). A governor’s pardon may relieve you of the duty to register as a sex offender and unlike a certificate or rehabilitation is available for all sex crimes.
If you are facing a sex crime charge in Los Angeles it is important that you speak with an experienced sex crimes attorney. At Wallin & Klarich, our attorneys have over 40 years of experience in defending sex crime cases in the Los Angeles area. We have been successful in defending our clients and keeping them off of the Sex Offender registry and Megan’s Law website. Call us today at (877) 466-5248 or fill out our contact form and one of our attorneys will call or email you. Give us a call, we will get through this together.
