Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney Blog
A Jacksonville man who has been convicted three times for not registering as a sex offender is being sought by police again. Police have an arrest warrant for Davis Batton, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. The report does not say what the warrant is for but, given his past and the fact that police have made the warrant public, there’s a good chance the warrant is for another Jacksonville sex offense.
Batton was initially classified as a sex offender following a 2001 conviction for lewd and lascivious exhibition of a minor in Clay County, the newspaper reported. Batton, now 31, was sentenced to two years in state prison for that crime, the newspaper reported. Since then, he was convicted in 2005, 2007 and 2010 for failure to report or failure to comply with sex offender requirements, the newspaper reported. For his most recent Jacksonville Sex Crime in 2010, Batton was sentenced to two years in prison. While Batton may be a bit of an extreme case, his plight is not uncommon and shows the cycle of violations that can happen when someone is required to register as a sex offender. Once a person is designated as a sex offender, which is mandatory with convictions or guilty pleas in Jacksonville Sex Crimes Cases including lewd and lascivious conduct, the defendant is required to update police on his or her living arrangements.
There are requirements that the person not live within 1,000 feet of a school, for example. And when the person moves, a notification is sent to neighbors – with the offender’s picture and the crime that qualified he or she as a sex offender. A Jacksonville Sex Crimes conviction follows a person everywhere – more than any other crime. Even if a sexual offender does not move residences, he or she is still required to report to police at least twice a year – once in the month of his or her birthday and again six months later. If more than three weeks passes from the deadline and the defendant has not checked in with police, police will likely seek a warrant for his or her arrest on the charge of failing to comply with sexual offender requirements. This is a third-degree felony and is punishable by up to five years in prison. Jacksonville Sex Crimes convictions can be the start of a series of arrests and prison sentences, all rooted with one offense. While in many cases there’s little choice, it is very important to understand all of the requirements of sex offender probation before accepting a plea in a Jacksonville Sex Crimes case.
If you or a loved one needs a criminal defense attorney in Jacksonville or the surrounding area, call The Mussallem Law Firm at (904) 365-5200 for a FREE CONSULTATION. Our Jacksonville Sex Crimes Attorney, Victoria “Tori” Mussallem, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.