Were you previously excluded from display on the Megan's Law website?

You may not be excluded, any more ...

On October 7, 2005, the California Legislature modified the Penal Code section 290.46 (Megan's Law). Originally, the law provided for the exclusion of persons convicted of specified offenses, one of which was "an offense listed in subdivision (b), (c), or (d) if the offender is eligible for, granted, and successfully completes probation pursuant to Section 1203.066 of the Penal Code."

Now the law says that an exclusion may be granted only if the offense did not involve penetration or oral copulation and the victim was the offender's child, stepchild, grandchild or sibling. The law further provides that it is your burden to clearly demonstrate the facts that make you eligible for exclusion under the current law.

On September 20, 2006, the Legislature further amended the law by adding a new provision that reads:

"If the Department of Justice determines that a person who was granted an exclusion under a former version of this subdivision would not qualify for an exclusion under the current version of this subdivision, the department shall rescind the exclusion, make a reasonable effort to provide notification to the person that the exclusion has rescinded, and, no sooner than 30 days after notification is attempted, make information about the offender available to the public on the Internet Web site as provided in this section."

If you believe that you have been wrongly included, you must act quickly to demonstrate your eligibility. You must use the 30 days between the attempt to notify you and the inclusion of your name on the Megan's Law website to clearly demonstrate that you meet the requirements for exclusion under the new criteria.

Call us immediately at (800) 209-4331 so we can help you defend yourself. Time is of the essence if you want to avoid seeing your name on the sex offender web site.