Commonwealth v. Dalton

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After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was found guilty of statutory rape. Defendant filed a motion for relief from the obligation to register as a sex offender. After a hearing, the judge (1) concluded that Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6, 178E(f) did not bar him from relieving Defendant of the obligation to register, and (2) relieved Defendant of the obligation of registering with the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB). The Supreme Judicial Court remanded the case with instructions to vacate the judge’s order reliving Defendant of the obligation to register as a sex offender, holding that the plain language of section 178E(f) forbids a judge of relieving the defendant of the obligation to register with SORB when the defendant has been convicted of a sex offense involving a child. View "Commonwealth v. Dalton" on Justia Law