Does Failure to Register Matter? A Retrospective Comparison of Men on Probation for Sexually-Related Offenses

This study examined the extent to which men sentenced to probation for Violation of Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (registration violations) differed from individuals sentenced directly to probation for a sex offense in a large urban county. All individuals in the study were revoked from probation over a three-year period. Variables of interest include actions that led to probation revocation, court-ordered condition violations that preceded revocation, court-ordered treatment requirements, criminal history, prior victimization, and other demographic characteristics. We found that the registration violation group was more likely to violate several conditions of probation, less likely to possess steady employment, and more likely to possess a history of prior charges including registration violations, drugs, theft and burglary, as compared to individuals directly sentenced to probation for a sex offense. Individuals in the registration violations group were also revoked with greater immediacy, within about 1.5 months on average compared to 3 months for individuals directly sentenced to probation. Probation officers may benefit from recognizing registration violation behaviors as distinctly different so that responses and strategies may be tailored to the greater likelihood of substance dependency, general criminality, and less cooperative tendencies.