Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Nov. 5, 2025)

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on November 5, 2025. Special thanks to my colleague Brittany Bromell for her contributions to today’s post. (1) Federal exploitation of a minor (18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(4)(A)) is substantially similar to state sexual exploitation of a minor (G.S.14-190.17A) requiring registration as a sex offender; (2) the State must show substantial similarity with an offense in effect at the time of the hearing; (3) the test for determining substantial similarity is not unconstitutionally vague. State v. Alcantara, No. COA25-98 (N.C. Ct. App. Nov. 5, 2025) (Collins). In 2003, Enoc Alcantara pled guilty in federal court to possessing material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In 2021, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office notified him of the requirement to register as a sex offender, prompting him to petition for judicial review (The Court of Appeals noted that Mr. Alcantara refers to himself and the courts have used the term defendant, and that this is not accurate, as he is a petitioner in a civil proceeding). The trial court initially ruled in favor of registration, but the Court of Appeals vacated that decision in 2023, finding the State failed to present the correct version of the federal statute. On remand, the State introduced the 2003 version of the federal statute and the 2023 version of the North Carolina statute criminalizing third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor (G.S. 14-190.17A). The trial court then concluded the statutes were substantially similar and ordered [...]