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First Substitute H.B. 181
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5 This act modifies the Criminal Code to create the offense and penalties regarding enticing
6 a minor over the Internet for sexual activity.
7 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
8 AMENDS:
9 77-27-21.5, as last amended by Chapter 201, Laws of Utah 2000
10 ENACTS:
11 76-4-401, Utah Code Annotated 1953
12 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
13 Section 1. Section 76-4-401 is enacted to read:
14 76-4-401. Enticing a minor over the Internet -- Elements -- Penalties.
15 (1) A person commits enticement of a minor over the Internet when, not amounting to an
16 attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation under Section 76-4-101 , 76-4-201 , or 76-4-203 , the person
17 knowingly uses a computer to solicit, seduce, lure, or entice, or attempt to solicit, seduce, lure, or
18 entice a minor or a person the defendant believes to be a minor to engage in any sexual activity
19 which is a violation of state criminal law.
20 (2) It is not a defense to the crime of enticing a minor under Subsection (1), or an attempt
21 to commit this offense, that a law enforcement officer or an undercover operative who is working
22 with a law enforcement agency was involved in the detection or investigation of the offense.
23 (3) An enticement of a minor under Subsection (1) with the intent to commit:
24 (a) a first degree felony is a second degree felony;
25 (b) a second degree felony is a third degree felony;
26 (c) a third degree felony is a class A misdemeanor;
27 (d) a class A misdemeanor is a class B misdemeanor; and
28 (e) a class B misdemeanor is a class C misdemeanor.
29 Section 2. Section 77-27-21.5 is amended to read:
30 77-27-21.5. Sex offender registration -- Information system -- Law enforcement and
31 courts to report -- Registration -- Penalty -- Effect of expungement.
32 (1) As used in this section:
33 (a) "Department" means the Department of Corrections.
34 (b) "Notification" means a person's acquisition of information from the department about
35 a sex offender, including his place of habitation, physical description, and methodology of the
36 offense, and other information as provided in Subsections (10) and (11).
37 (c) "Register" means to comply with the rules of the department made under this section.
38 (d) "Sex offender" means any person convicted by this state or who enters a plea in
39 abeyance for violating Section 76-4-401 , 76-7-102 , 76-9-702.5 , 76-5a-3 , 76-10-1306 , or
40 76-5-301.1 or of committing or attempting, soliciting, or conspiring to commit a felony, under
41 Title 76, Chapter 5, Part 4, Sexual Offenses, and any person convicted by any other state or the
42 United States government of an offense which if committed or attempted in this state would be
43 punishable as one or more of these offenses. "Sex offender" also means all persons committed to
44 a state mental hospital by reason of their mental incapacity and their commission or alleged
45 commission of one or more offenses listed in this Subsection (1)(d).
46 (2) The department, to assist in investigating sex-related crimes and in apprehending
47 offenders, shall:
48 (a) develop and operate a system to collect, analyze, maintain, and disseminate information
49 on sex offenders and sex offenses; and
50 (b) make information collected and developed under this section available to the public.
51 (3) Any law enforcement agency shall, in the manner prescribed by the department, inform
52 the department of:
53 (a) the receipt of a report or complaint of an offense listed in Subsection (1)(d), within
54 three working days; and
55 (b) the arrest of a person suspected of any of the offenses listed in Subsection (1)(d),
56 within five working days.
57 (4) Upon convicting a person of any of the offenses listed in Subsection (1)(d), or any
58 lesser included offense, the convicting court shall within three working days forward a copy of the
59 judgment and sentence to the department.
60 (5) A sex offender in the custody of the department shall be registered by agents of the
61 department upon:
62 (a) being placed on probation;
63 (b) commitment to a secure correctional facility operated by or under contract to the
64 department;
65 (c) release from confinement to parole status, termination or expiration of sentence, or
66 escape;
67 (d) entrance to and release from any community-based residential program operated by or
68 under contract to the department; or
69 (e) termination of probation or parole.
70 (6) A sex offender not in the custody of the department who is confined in a correctional
71 facility not operated by or under contract to the department shall, upon release from confinement,
72 be registered with the department by the sheriff of the county in which the offender is confined.
73 (7) A sex offender confined in a state mental hospital shall be registered with the
74 department by the hospital. A sex offender committed to a state mental hospital shall be registered
75 with the department by the hospital upon admission and upon discharge.
76 (8) A sex offender shall, for ten years after termination of sentence, register annually and
77 again within ten days of every change of his place of habitation.
78 (9) An agency that registers a sex offender on parole shall inform him of his duty to
79 comply with the continuing registration requirements of this section, including:
80 (a) notification to an out-of-state agency of moving across state lines;
81 (b) notification to the state agencies in the states where the registrant presently resides and
82 plans to reside when moving across state lines; and
83 (c) verification of address at least every 60 days pursuant to a parole agreement for lifetime
84 parolees.
85 (10) A sex offender shall provide the department with the following information:
86 (a) all names or aliases the sex offender is or has been known by;
87 (b) the sex offender's name and address;
88 (c) a physical description, including the sex offender's age, height, weight, eye and hair
89 color;
90 (d) the type of vehicle or vehicles the sex offender drives; and
91 (e) a current photograph of the sex offender.
92 (11) The department shall provide the following additional information:
93 (a) the crimes the sex offender was charged with and convicted of;
94 (b) a description of the sex offender's primary and secondary targets; and
95 (c) a description of the sex offender's method of offense.
96 (12) (a) A sex offender who knowingly fails to register under this section is guilty of a
97 class A misdemeanor and shall be sentenced to serve a term of incarceration for not fewer than 90
98 days and also at least one year of probation.
99 (b) Neither the court nor the Board of Pardons and Parole may release a person who
100 violates this section from serving a term of at least 90 days and of completing probation of at least
101 one year. This Subsection (12)(b) supersedes any other provision of the law contrary to this
102 section.
103 (13) Notwithstanding Title 63, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management
104 Act, information in Subsections (10) and (11) collected and released under this section is public
105 information.
106 (14) (a) If a sex offender is to be temporarily sent outside a secure facility in which he is
107 confined on any assignment, including, without limitation, firefighting or disaster control, the
108 official who has custody of the offender shall, within a reasonable time prior to removal from the
109 secure facility, notify the local law enforcement agencies where the assignment is to be filled.
110 (b) This Subsection (14) does not apply to any person temporarily released under guard
111 from the institution in which he is confined.
112 (15) Notwithstanding Sections 77-18-9 through 77-18-14 regarding expungement, a person
113 convicted of any offense listed in Subsection (1)(d) is not relieved from the responsibility to
114 register under this section.
115 (16) Notwithstanding Section 42-1-1 , a sex offender may not change his name while under
116 the jurisdiction of the department and until the registration requirements of this statute have
117 expired.
118 (17) The department may make rules necessary to implement this section, including:
119 (a) the method for dissemination of the information; and
120 (b) instructions to the public regarding the use of the information.
121 (18) Any information regarding the identity or location of a victim shall be redacted by the
122 department from information provided under Subsections (10) and (11).
123 (19) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create or impose any duty on any person
124 to request or obtain information regarding any sex offender from the department.
125 (20) If the department chooses to post registry information on the Internet, the website
126 shall contain a disclaimer informing the public of the following:
127 (a) the information contained on the site is obtained from sex offenders and the department
128 does not guarantee its accuracy;
129 (b) members of the public are not allowed to publicize the information or use it to harass
130 or threaten sex offenders or members of their families; and
131 (c) harassment, stalking, or threats against sex offenders or their families are prohibited
132 and doing so may violate Utah criminal laws.
133 (21) The department shall construct the website so that users, before accessing registry
134 information, must indicate that they have read the disclaimer, understand it, and agree to comply
135 with its terms.
136 (22) The department, its personnel, and any individual or entity acting at the request or
137 upon the direction of the department are immune from civil liability for damages for good faith
138 compliance with this section and will be presumed to have acted in good faith by reporting
139 information.
140 (23) The department shall redact information that, if disclosed, could reasonably identify
141 a victim.
142 (24) The website may also include information about sex offenders ordered to accept
143 notification of their registry information as part of a condition of probation or parole.
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