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SB 384: Who is a Tier 3 Registrant under PC 290(d)(3)?
In the context of what folks are Tier 3 sex offenders for purposes of Senate Bill 384 relief from registration obligations, Tier 3 is generally understood to be reserved for those who will remain obligated to register for life. It is the Tier 3 for those who our law regards as most dangerous to reoffending and who regular registration helps police monitor.
The Gist of this Article: For purposes of SB 384, a Tier 3 290 registrant is someone who was convicted of the most serious sex offenses, or a Tier 1 or 2 registrant who was later convicted of a second sex offense or one or more other more serious felonies. Tier 3 registrants generally must register for life, but some may be eligible for relief from registration after 20 years.
For example, a person designated a Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) is Tier 3 (Penal Code § 290(d)(3)(B)), as is someone deemed a habitual sex offender under Penal Code § 667.71 (Penal Code § 290(d)(3)(E)). A mentally disordered sex offender (MDO) or someone who was found not guilty due to insanity is Tier 3 (Penal Code § 290(d)(3)(H).
Likewise, someone who has at least two convictions for violating Penal Code § 288(a) from separate proceedings is Tier 3 (Penal Code § 290(d)(3)(F). Similarly, a person who was convicted of any registrable offense, even if Tier 1 or Tier 2, but who later is convicted of a violent felony for which that person was ordered to register as a sex offender becomes a Tier 3 (Penal Code § 290(d)(3)(A)).
Tier 3 is also reserved for someone sentenced to 15 years, 25 years or-life for violation of an offense listed under Penal Code § 667.61 (California’s “One Strike Law”) which includes a second-time rape (Penal Code § 261) conviction, sexual penetration (Penal Code § 289) if defendant tortured the victim, sodomy (Penal Code § 286) if defendant also kidnapped the victim, aggravated spousal rape (Penal Code § 262), lewd and lascivious acts (Penal Code § 288), oral copulation (Penal Code § 287), or continual sexual abuse of a child under Penal Code § 288.5. The 15, 25 or lifetime sentence can be imposed when the court finds certain aggravating circumstances were involved such as inflicting bodily harm to the victim while committing the crime, using a dangerous weapon to commit the crime, when defendant tied or bound the victim to commit the crime, or defendant gave the victim a controlled substance to control the victim.
A person may also be classified as a Tier 3 registrant if he or she has suffered any one of the following convictions:
- Murder (Penal Code § 187) while attempting to commit rape (Penal Code § 261), sodomy (Penal Code § 286), oral copulation (Penal Code § 287), lewd and lascivious acts (Penal Code § 288) or sexual penetration (Penal Code § 289);
- Kidnapping (Penal Code § 207) or aggravated kidnapping (Penal Code § 209) with intent to commit rape (Penal Code § 261), sodomy (Penal Code § 286), oral copulation (Penal Code § 287), lewd and lascivious acts (Penal Code § 288) or sexual penetration (Penal Code § 289);
- Penal Code § 220 - Assault with intent to commit mayhem (Penal Code § 203), rape (Penal Code § 261), rape in concert (gang rape) (Penal Code § 264.1), sodomy (Penal Code § 286), oral copulation (Penal Code § 287), lewd and lascivious acts (Penal Code § 288) or sexual penetration (Penal Code § 289);
- Pimping a minor (Penal Code § 266h(b));
- Pandering a minor (Penal Code § 266i(b));
- Transporting a minor for purposes of lewd or lascivious acts (Penal Code § 266j);
- Kidnapping a person under 18 for purposes of prostitution (Penal Code § 267);
- Aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 (Penal Code § 269);
- Lewd and Lascivious Acts against a child under age 14 by force, duress, threat of force, etc. (Penal Code § 288(b));
- Lewd and Lascivious Acts against a child age 14 or 15 when defendant is at least ten years older than the victim (Penal Code § 288(c));
- Sending harmful matter to a minor (Penal Code § 288.2);
- Contacting minors with intent to commit certain sex offenses (Penal Code § 288.3, unless committed with the intent to commit a violation of § 286(b) (sodomy of a person under age 14), Penal Code § 287(b) (oral copulation of person under age 14 by use of force) or former Penal Code § 288a(b), or Penal Code §§ 289(h) or (i));
- Meeting with a minor for lewd purposes (Penal Code § 288.4);
- Continuous sexual abuse of a child while living in the same house as the child (Penal Code § 288.5);
- Sex with a child under 10 years of age (Penal Code § 288.7);
- Soliciting someone to commit a sex crime (Penal Code § 653f(c));
- Any offense for which the person was sentenced to a life term under Penal Code § 667.61 (One Strike Law);
- Felony human trafficking for purposes of pimping, child pornography or extortion (b) or prostitution (c) (Penal Code §§ 236.1(b) or (c));
- Felony sexual battery by restraint (a), by false pretenses that the touching is for professional purposes (c) or of an institutionalized, disabled or medically incapacitated person (d) (Penal Code §§ 243.4(a), (c) or (d));
- Rape by force (a)(2), by intoxication or anesthesia (a)(3), or the victim is unconscious (a)(4) (Penal Code §§ 261(a)(2), (3), or (4));
- Rape (Penal Code § 261) and sentenced pursuant to Penal Code § 264(c)(1) (child victim under age 14) or (2) (minor 14 or older);
- Spousal rape by force (Penal Code § 262(a)(1));
- Gang rape / rape in concert by force (Penal Code § 264.1);
- Contributing to the delinquency of a minor (Penal Code § 272) involving lewd or lascivious conduct;
- Sodomy by force of a person under age 14 when defendant is more than ten years older than the victim (c)(2), sodomy in concert / gang sodomy (d), sodomy of an unconscious person (f), or sodomy by use of intoxicating substance or anesthesia (i) (Penal Code §§ 286(c)(2), (d), (f) or (i));
- Oral copulation by force (c)(2), in concert (d), of an unconscious person (f), or sodomy by use of an intoxicating substance or anesthesia (i) (Penal Code §§ 287(c)(2), (d), (f) or (i));
- Oral copulation of a person under age 14 by a person more than ten years older by force (c)(2), in concert (d), of an unconscious victim (f), or by use of an intoxicating substance or anesthesia (i) (former Penal Code § 288a(c)(2), (d), (f), or (i));
- Sexual penetration by a foreign object by force (a)(1), of an unconscious person (d), by use of an intoxicating substance or anesthesia (e) or of a person under age 14 when the defendant is at least ten years older than the victim (j) (Penal Code § 289(a)(1), (d), (e), or (j));
- Felony possession of child pornography (Penal Code § 311.1);
- Sending or distributing (b) or producing, sending and distributing child pornography (Penal Code § 311.2(b), (c), or (d));
- Sexual exploitation of a child for purposes of child pornography (Penal Code § 311.3);
- Repeat offender under child pornography laws (Penal Code § 311.4);
- Advertising or selling child pornography involving sex acts of a child (Penal Code § 311.10); or
- Possession of child pornography in California (Penal Code § 311.11).
For more information about SB 384, please click on the following articles:
