Senate Amendment 2
S 995 - Session 125 (2023-2024)
MPIC

Senator Hutto proposes the following amendment (SJ-995.MB0007S):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 2, by adding:

Section 16-15-395 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

 (E) The offense is a misdemeanor to be heard by the family court if the person charged under the provisions of (A)(4) is a minor and the offense is the minor's first offense related to a morphed image of an identifiable minor. The family court may order behavioral health counseling from an appropriate agency or provider, as a condition of adjudicating a minor.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 3, by adding:

Section 16-15-405 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

 (E) The offense is a misdemeanor to be heard by the family court if the person charged under the provisions of (A) is a minor and the offense is the minor's first charge related to a morphed image of an identifiable minor. The family court may order behavioral health counseling from an appropriate agency or provider, as a condition of adjudicating a minor.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 4, by adding:

Section 16-15-410(D) of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 (D) This section does not apply to an employee of a law enforcement agency, including the State Law Enforcement Division, a prosecuting agency, including the South Carolina Attorney General's Office, or the South Carolina Department of Corrections who, while acting within the employee's official capacity in the course of an investigation or criminal proceeding, is in possession of material that contains a visual representation of a minor engaging in sexual activity or appearing in a state of sexually explicit nudity when a reasonable person would infer the purpose is sexual stimulation. The employee's official capacity in the course of such investigation or criminal proceeding includes making materials available for inspection to the defendant's counsel in response to discovery requests.

Section 16-15-410 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

 (E) The offense is a misdemeanor to be heard by the family court if the person charged under the provisions of (A) is a minor and the offense is the minor's first offense related to a morphed image of an identifiable minor. The family court may order behavioral health counseling from an appropriate agency or provider, as a condition of adjudicating a minor.

Amend the bill further, by striking SECTION 5 and inserting:

SECTION X. Section 23-3-430(C)(1) of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 (C)(1) For purposes of this article, a person who has been convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendere to any of the following offenses shall be referred to as a Tier I offender:
   (a) criminal sexual conduct in the third degree (Section 16-3-654);
   (b) kidnapping (Section 16-3-910) of a person eighteen years of age or older except when the court makes a finding on the record that the offense did not include a criminal sexual offense or an attempted criminal sexual offense;
   (c) incest (Section 16-15-20);
   (d) buggery (Section 16-15-120);
   (e) peeping, voyeurism, or aggravated voyeurism (Section 16-17-470);
   (f) a person, regardless of age, who has been convicted or pled guilty or nolo contendere in this State, or who has been convicted or pled guilty or nolo contendere in a comparable court in the United States, or who has been convicted or pled guilty or nolo contendere in the United States federal courts of indecent exposure or of a similar offense in other jurisdictions is required to register pursuant to the provisions of this article if the court makes a specific finding on the record that, based on the circumstances of the case, the convicted person should register as a sex offender;
   (g) sexual intercourse with a patient or trainee (Section 44-23-1150);
   (h) administering, distributing, dispensing, delivering, or aiding, abetting, attempting, or conspiring to administer, distribute, dispense, or deliver a controlled substance or gamma hydroxy butyrate to an individual with the intent to commit a crime listed in Section 44-53-370(f), except petit larceny or grand larceny;
   (i) any other offense as described in Section 23-3-430(D), or
   (j) any other offense required by Title I of the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109-248), the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA);.
   (k) criminal sexual exploitation of a minor, first degree (Section 16-15-395), provided the offense is related to a morphed image of an identifiable minor. If the offender is under eighteen years of age and the offense is related to a morphed image of an identifiable minor, the adjudicated minor is not an offender and is not required to register pursuant to the provisions of this article;
   (l) criminal sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (Section 16-15-405), provided the offense is related to a morphed image of an identifiable minor. If the offender is under eighteen years of age and the offense is related to a morphed image of an identifiable minor, the adjudicated minor is not an offender and is not required to register pursuant to the provisions of this article; or
   (m) criminal sexual exploitation of a minor, third degree (Section 16-15-410); provided the offense is related to a morphed image of an identifiable minor. If the offender is under eighteen years of age and the offense is related to a morphed image of an identifiable minor, the adjudicated minor is not an offender and is not required to register pursuant to the provisions of this article.

SECTION X. Section 23-3-462(A) of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 (A) After successful completion of the requirements of this section, an offender may apply to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for the termination of the requirements of registration pursuant to this article. If it is determined that the offender has met the requirements of this section, SLED shall remove the offender's name and identifying information from the sex offender registry and shall notify the offender within one hundred twenty days that the offender has been relieved of the registration requirements of this article.
  (1) An offender may file a request for termination of the requirement of registration with SLED, in a form and process established by the agency:
   (a) after fifteen years of having been registered for at least fifteen years, or after fifteen years from the date of discharge from incarceration without supervision or the termination of active supervision of probation, parole, or any other alternative to incarceration, if the offender was required to register based on an adjudication of delinquency or the offender was required to register as is a Tier I offender;
   (b) after twenty-five years of having been registered for at least twenty-five years, or after twenty-five years from the date of discharge from incarceration without supervision or the termination of active supervision of probation, parole, or any other active alternative to incarceration, if the offender was convicted as an adult, and was required to register as is a Tier II offender;
   (c) an a Tier I or Tier II offender who was required to register as an offender because of a conviction in another state or because of a federal conviction may apply to be removed from the requirements of the registry if he is eligible to be removed under the laws of the jurisdiction where the conviction occurred.
  (2) An offender who was convicted as an adult, and who is required to register as a Tier III offender may not file a request for termination of registration with SLED nor shall any such request be granted pursuant to this subsection.
  (3) The requesting offender must have successfully completed all sex offender treatment programs that have been required.
  (4) The requesting offender must not have been convicted of failure to register within the previous ten years.
  (5) The offender must not have been convicted of any additional sexual offense or violent sexual offense after being placed on the registry.
  (6) A filing fee, as set by SLED but not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars, shall be paid to file the request for termination of registration requirements. The initial application may be filed with SLED and the administrative review may begin one hundred twenty days prior to the date specified in subsection (A)(1); however, any removal may not occur prior to the date specified.