29-year-old Gary Swindall was recently arraigned in the 52/3 District Court in Rochester, MI for failing to comply with Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) requirements. According to court documents in Oakland County, Swindall provided the Michigan State Police with a false address in violation of SORA. When police officers arrived at the location where Swindall was supposed to be living, the homeowner told them that not only was Swindall not there, but he had never lived at that address.
In Swindall’s case, he provided the state with an address that was not his actual address. This is a violation of Sex Offender Registration Act requirements. As a result, Swindall was arraigned on one count of Failure to Comply with Sex Offender Registration Act, second offense. This is a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison along with a possible fine of $5,000.
Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) includes a number of specific requirements for convicted sex offenders in Michigan. That includes people convicted in or living in Michigan. For example, the law requires that all sex offenders in Michigan register their real address with law enforcement after conviction, but prior to sentencing. Michigan State Police posts around the state are places where a convicted sex offender can register. Once registered, a sex offender remains on the list for 15 years, 25 years, or life, depending on their tier level.
The following is a list of behaviors and activities that would lead to a convicted sex offender being in violation of SORA requirements, under Michigan law:
- Failure to register
- Failure to change their address when they move or vacate a residence
- Failure to verify their address with the state
- Failure to pay the $50 one-time registration fee, and/or $50 annual fee
- Failure to sign a registration, notification, or verification form
- Failure to provide, or update campus information, for those who are attending university
- Failure to provide or update vehicle information
- Failure to provide or update employment information
- Failure to provide name change information
- Failure to report email address(es) and/or any other internet identifiers
- Failure to maintain a valid Michigan driver’s license or personal identification card
- Residing, working, or loitering within 1,000 feet of a school
Join us next time as we continue this discussion on Michigan’s SORA requirements, what this means for you, and the importance of staying in compliance with the law. Before we sign off however, our sex crime attorneys remind our readers of a few very important facts:
First, inconvenient as it may be to maintain compliance with SORA requirements, we urge all convicted sex offenders to do so. Non-compliance can mean big fines and extended prison time, which are far worse than obeying SORA rules.
Second, some people can be removed from Michigan’s public SORA registry. You can read about that here: stay off the Michigan sex offender registry.
And finally, if you are accused of a sex assault crime, hire an experienced and aggressive defense attorney at the very beginning of your case, which often reduces your chances of conviction right from the start! Our sex assault defense attorneys help wrongfully accused people all over the lower peninsula of Michigan. Our phones answer 24/7.