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H.B. 181 Enrolled

                 

PENALTIES FOR SOLICITING MINORS

                 
2001 GENERAL SESSION

                 
STATE OF UTAH

                 
Sponsor: Duane E. Bourdeaux

                  This act modifies the Criminal Code to create the offense and penalties regarding enticing
                  a minor over the Internet for sexual activity and to add this offense under the definition of
                  "sex offender." This act includes a coordination clause.
                  This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
                  AMENDS:
                      77-27-21.5, as last amended by Chapter 201, Laws of Utah 2000
                  ENACTS:
                      76-4-401, Utah Code Annotated 1953
                  Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
                      Section 1. Section 76-4-401 is enacted to read:
                      76-4-401. Enticing a minor over the Internet -- Elements -- Penalties.
                      (1) A person commits enticement of a minor over the Internet when, not amounting to an
                  attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation under Section 76-4-101 , 76-4-201 , or 76-4-203 , the person
                  knowingly uses a computer to solicit, seduce, lure, or entice, or attempt to solicit, seduce, lure, or
                  entice a minor or a person the defendant believes to be a minor to engage in any sexual activity
                  which is a violation of state criminal law.
                      (2) It is not a defense to the crime of enticing a minor under Subsection (1), or an attempt
                  to commit this offense, that a law enforcement officer or an undercover operative who is working
                  with a law enforcement agency was involved in the detection or investigation of the offense.
                      (3) An enticement of a minor under Subsection (1) with the intent to commit:
                      (a) a first degree felony is a second degree felony;
                      (b) a second degree felony is a third degree felony;
                      (c) a third degree felony is a class A misdemeanor;
                      (d) a class A misdemeanor is a class B misdemeanor; and
                      (e) a class B misdemeanor is a class C misdemeanor.


                      Section 2. Section 77-27-21.5 is amended to read:
                       77-27-21.5. Sex offender registration -- Information system -- Law enforcement and
                  courts to report -- Registration -- Penalty -- Effect of expungement.
                      (1) As used in this section:
                      (a) "Department" means the Department of Corrections.
                      (b) "Notification" means a person's acquisition of information from the department about
                  a sex offender, including his place of habitation, physical description, and methodology of the
                  offense, and other information as provided in Subsections (10) and (11).
                      (c) "Register" means to comply with the rules of the department made under this section.
                      (d) "Sex offender" means any person convicted by this state or who enters a plea in abeyance
                  for violating Section 76-4-401 , 76-7-102 , 76-9-702.5 , 76-5a-3 , 76-10-1306 , or 76-5-301.1 or of
                  committing or attempting, soliciting, or conspiring to commit a felony, under Title 76, Chapter 5,
                  Part 4, Sexual Offenses, and any person convicted by any other state or the United States government
                  of an offense which if committed or attempted in this state would be punishable as one or more of
                  these offenses. "Sex offender" also means all persons committed to a state mental hospital by reason
                  of their mental incapacity and their commission or alleged commission of one or more offenses listed
                  in this Subsection (1)(d).
                      (2) The department, to assist in investigating sex-related crimes and in apprehending
                  offenders, shall:
                      (a) develop and operate a system to collect, analyze, maintain, and disseminate information
                  on sex offenders and sex offenses; and
                      (b) make information collected and developed under this section available to the public.
                      (3) Any law enforcement agency shall, in the manner prescribed by the department, inform
                  the department of:
                      (a) the receipt of a report or complaint of an offense listed in Subsection (1)(d), within three
                  working days; and
                      (b) the arrest of a person suspected of any of the offenses listed in Subsection (1)(d), within
                  five working days.

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                      (4) Upon convicting a person of any of the offenses listed in Subsection (1)(d), or any lesser
                  included offense, the convicting court shall within three working days forward a copy of the
                  judgment and sentence to the department.
                      (5) A sex offender in the custody of the department shall be registered by agents of the
                  department upon:
                      (a) being placed on probation;
                      (b) commitment to a secure correctional facility operated by or under contract to the
                  department;
                      (c) release from confinement to parole status, termination or expiration of sentence, or
                  escape;
                      (d) entrance to and release from any community-based residential program operated by or
                  under contract to the department; or
                      (e) termination of probation or parole.
                      (6) A sex offender not in the custody of the department who is confined in a correctional
                  facility not operated by or under contract to the department shall, upon release from confinement,
                  be registered with the department by the sheriff of the county in which the offender is confined.
                      (7) A sex offender confined in a state mental hospital shall be registered with the department
                  by the hospital. A sex offender committed to a state mental hospital shall be registered with the
                  department by the hospital upon admission and upon discharge.
                      (8) A sex offender shall, for ten years after termination of sentence, register annually and
                  again within ten days of every change of his place of habitation.
                      (9) An agency that registers a sex offender on parole shall inform him of his duty to comply
                  with the continuing registration requirements of this section, including:
                      (a) notification to an out-of-state agency of moving across state lines;
                      (b) notification to the state agencies in the states where the registrant presently resides and
                  plans to reside when moving across state lines; and
                      (c) verification of address at least every 60 days pursuant to a parole agreement for lifetime
                  parolees.

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                      (10) A sex offender shall provide the department with the following information:
                      (a) all names or aliases the sex offender is or has been known by;
                      (b) the sex offender's name and address;
                      (c) a physical description, including the sex offender's age, height, weight, eye and hair
                  color;
                      (d) the type of vehicle or vehicles the sex offender drives; and
                      (e) a current photograph of the sex offender.
                      (11) The department shall provide the following additional information:
                      (a) the crimes the sex offender was charged with and convicted of;
                      (b) a description of the sex offender's primary and secondary targets; and
                      (c) a description of the sex offender's method of offense.
                      (12) (a) A sex offender who knowingly fails to register under this section is guilty of a class
                  A misdemeanor and shall be sentenced to serve a term of incarceration for not fewer than 90 days
                  and also at least one year of probation.
                      (b) Neither the court nor the Board of Pardons and Parole may release a person who violates
                  this section from serving a term of at least 90 days and of completing probation of at least one year.
                  This Subsection (12)(b) supersedes any other provision of the law contrary to this section.
                      (13) Notwithstanding Title 63, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management
                  Act, information in Subsections (10) and (11) collected and released under this section is public
                  information.
                      (14) (a) If a sex offender is to be temporarily sent outside a secure facility in which he is
                  confined on any assignment, including, without limitation, firefighting or disaster control, the official
                  who has custody of the offender shall, within a reasonable time prior to removal from the secure
                  facility, notify the local law enforcement agencies where the assignment is to be filled.
                      (b) This Subsection (14) does not apply to any person temporarily released under guard from
                  the institution in which he is confined.
                      (15) Notwithstanding Sections 77-18-9 through 77-18-14 regarding expungement, a person
                  convicted of any offense listed in Subsection (1)(d) is not relieved from the responsibility to register

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                  under this section.
                      (16) Notwithstanding Section 42-1-1 , a sex offender may not change his name while under
                  the jurisdiction of the department and until the registration requirements of this statute have expired.
                      (17) The department may make rules necessary to implement this section, including:
                      (a) the method for dissemination of the information; and
                      (b) instructions to the public regarding the use of the information.
                      (18) Any information regarding the identity or location of a victim shall be redacted by the
                  department from information provided under Subsections (10) and (11).
                      (19) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create or impose any duty on any person
                  to request or obtain information regarding any sex offender from the department.
                      (20) If the department chooses to post registry information on the Internet, the website shall
                  contain a disclaimer informing the public of the following:
                      (a) the information contained on the site is obtained from sex offenders and the department
                  does not guarantee its accuracy;
                      (b) members of the public are not allowed to publicize the information or use it to harass or
                  threaten sex offenders or members of their families; and
                      (c) harassment, stalking, or threats against sex offenders or their families are prohibited and
                  doing so may violate Utah criminal laws.
                      (21) The department shall construct the website so that users, before accessing registry
                  information, must indicate that they have read the disclaimer, understand it, and agree to comply
                  with its terms.
                      (22) The department, its personnel, and any individual or entity acting at the request or upon
                  the direction of the department are immune from civil liability for damages for good faith
                  compliance with this section and will be presumed to have acted in good faith by reporting
                  information.
                      (23) The department shall redact information that, if disclosed, could reasonably identify a
                  victim.
                      (24) The website may also include information about sex offenders ordered to accept

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                  notification of their registry information as part of a condition of probation or parole.
                      Section 3. Coordination clause.
                      (1) If this bill and H.B. 237, Sex Offender Registry, both pass, it is the intent of the
                  Legislature that in preparing the database for publication the Office of Legislative Research and
                  General Counsel be directed to insert the amendment in Section 77-27-21.5 from 1st Sub. H.B. 181
                  into Subsection 77-27-21.5(1)(d)(i) from H.B. 237 to read as follows:
                      "(A) Section 76-4-401, enticing a minor over the Internet;".
                      (2) Renumber the remaining subsections accordingly.

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