Sex Offenders Living with Minors, Part II

Last week I wrote about the restrictions on living with minors applicable to sex offenders who are under supervision by the Department of Correction. I wrote in that post that supervised offenders whose crime involved the physical, mental, or sexual abuse of a minor will likely be subject to a condition of supervision preventing them from residing in the same household as a child. This post considers what restrictions apply when a registered offender’s formal supervision comes to an end. The short answer is that the sex offender registration law does not expressly restrict with whom a registered offender may live. Several provisions placing restrictions on residency and employment may, however, come close in certain situations. (In discussing these provisions I’ll describe situations in which the registrant is male, but the laws apply equally to women.) As for the residency restrictions, under G.S. 14-208.16, a registrant may not knowingly reside within 1,000 feet of the property on which any school or child care center is located. I have been asked if that provision might bar a registrant from living in a home with a home-schooled child or prevent an offender from residing with and caring for, for example, his girlfriend’s children. I don’t think it does. First, the law expressly excludes home schools (as defined in G.S. 115C-563) from its definition. Second, the law defines a “child care center” as an arrangement where three or more preschool-age children or nine or more school age children receive child care, but it excludes [...]