Sex Offenders

Sex Offenders

Oneida County currently has over 100 Sex Offenders under their supervision.

• If an Offender is convicted of a Misdemeanor Sex Offense and sentenced to Probation, their period of supervision is six (6) years.
• If an Offender is convicted of a Felony Sex Offense and sentenced to a period of Probation supervision, that term is ten (10) years. 
• In some cases a short period of incarceration can be part of the Offender’s Probation term, as dictated at the court’s discretion and based on the severity of the final conviction, three (3) months for Misdemeanors and six (6) months for Felonies.

**Important distinction in conviction: if an individual is convicted of a Distributing Indecent Material to a Minor, that Felony Offense is a period of five (5) years of Probation Supervision.

Fines, Treatment, Monitoring

• Court fines imposed for convicted Sex Offenders are traditionally higher and typically in excess of $1,000 and due to those fines being statutory in nature, they’re non-negotiable and unable to be waived.
• Once convicted and sentenced to a period of Probation, a Sex Offender is required to complete Sex Offender treatment which consists of an evaluation, group treatment and individualized treatment at the Center for Family Life and Recovery Center in Utica. There is a sliding scale fee associated with this treatment, and these fees are not able to be waived.
• Frequently, GPS monitoring is utilized to curtail an Offender’s proclivity for frequenting places known to have children, the elderly, or generally weaker population such as schools, parks, nursing homes, and playgrounds. GPS monitoring, which provides 24 hour a day surveillance, keeps Probation informed up to the second as to the whereabouts of the Sex Offender.

A Level 1 Sex Offender is required, according to the Sex Offender Registry Act (S.O.R.A.), to register for 20 years with Levels 2 & 3 Sex Offenders required to register for life. The Sex Offender is mandated to notify either Probation, if they’re still being supervised by Probation, or Albany and the local police departments within 10 days of an address change. Local cooperating police agencies include: Oneida County Sheriff’s Department, Utica Police Department, New Hartford Police Department, Rome Police Department, and the Whitesboro Police Department. The Sex Offender must regularly update a photo of his / her appearance with the local police department or risk being in violation of the SORA regulations. Sex Offenders are required to update their address quarterly as well. 

**Important: Offender’s designated as Youthful Offenders are NOT required to register regardless of the offense committed.

Additional Measures

If the victim was / is a child, the Offender is NOT permitted to have any access to a social networking site, i.e. Facebook. Any screen names associated with computer use must be registered with the Probation Officer as enacted by the recent “E-Stop” Legislation. Pornography in ANY manner is strictly prohibited in any form, regardless of the age of the actors, and is grounds for an immediate violation of Probation for any individual convicted as a Sex Offender, regardless of the nature of the conviction. Sex Offenders are NOT permitted to have any unsupervised contact with any children under the age of 18, unless those children are their own biological or legally adopted children AND those children are NOT the subject of the victimization. 

**An Order of Protection naming the victim and precluding the Offender from having any form of contact is standard with violation of this O.O.P. being grounds for new criminal charges being lodged against the Offender and a subsequent violation of Probation petition being brought before the sentencing court which may result in substantial prison time.

**In Oneida County, Level 2 and Level 3 Sex Offenders are NOT permitted to live within 1,500 feet of a school, day care center, or public park.

If you have concerns regarding an individual who may be a convicted Sex Offender and would like to verify this information, you can log on to the New York State Sex Offender registry that will provide you with additional information: www.criminaljustice.ny.gov