A registered sex offender with a reputation for not meeting his registration obligations has been sentenced to prison. The Winters man was handed a 13 year and one month sentence for receiving child pornography, according to a U.S. Attorney’s office news update. U.S. District Judge John A. Menendez sentenced 26-year old Michael Rea in Sacramento.
As reported in court documents, Rea was on probation in September 2013 after a conviction for failing to register as mandated by California’s sex offender registration laws. Sacramento Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force and FBI agents discovered Rea living with a child in a home where he was not registered to live. Authorities report a search of Rea’s personal affects by the agents turned up a DVD containing six movies of minors being sexually abused.
The multi-jurisdictional Sacramento Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force team is supported in part by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It was created with grant funding from the California Office of Emergency Services and is comprised of members from the Sacramento Police Department, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, the Sacramento County Probation Department, and the U.S. Marshal’s Service.
California’s Sex Offender Registration Act
Also known as Megan’s Law, the California Sex Offender Registration Act requires all individuals living in California after being convicted of a sex crime to register with the local law enforcement agency of the city or county in which they reside.
This registry must be updated annually within five working days of the individual’s birthday, and every time the individual moves. A knowing and willful failure to meet this obligation- even just one time- will lead to charges under California Penal Code 290(b) and a possible conviction of the California crime of “failure to register as a sex offender.”
The penalties for this conviction are dependent on the nature of your original sex crime conviction. If your sex crime conviction was a misdemeanor, then failure to register under Penal Code 290(b) will also be a misdemeanor, punishable by as much as one year in county jail. Accordingly, if your sex crime conviction was a felony, or if you have received a prior conviction under Penal Code 290(b), then failure to register will also be considered a felony, punishable by 16 months to 3 years in state prison.
Failure to register charges can sometimes be reduced or dismissed using the following common legal defenses:
- You did not willfully fail to register
- Your information was misplaced or not received when you attempted to register
- You have been falsely accused
Contact Our Oakland Sex Crimes Lawyers
If you have been arrested and accused of a sex crime, you need to take swift legal action immediately. Building a solid defense against these serious crimes is the only way to stay out of jail and prevent the "sex offender" label. Talk with the seasoned Oakland sex crime attorney from the Law Office of Nabiel C. Ahmed today at (510) 907-6600.