O.C.G.A. 42-1-14 required a person who is classified as a Level 3 sexually dangerous predator to wear and pay for a GPS Monitoring device even if no longer on probation or parole. This Statute allowed the State to monitor the person’s movements for the remainder of his or her life.

Joseph Park & Sex Offender GPS Monitoring

In 2003, Joseph Park was convicted of child molestation and sexual exploitation of a minor. Upon his release from custody in 2011, the Sexual Offender Registration Review Board classified him as a sexually dangerous predator under O.C.G.A. 42-1-14(a)(1). This Statute required Park to wear a GPS monitoring system the rest of his life.

Joseph Park challenged this statute on Constitutional grounds. The Georgia Supreme Court concluded that O.C.G.A. 42-1-14 was an unreasonable search and violated the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The Court held that the wearing a GPS monitoring device to track the person’s whereabouts 24/7 for the rest of their life, even after the person has served their entire criminal sentence, constituted a significant intrusion upon the privacy of the individual. This would be an unreasonable warrantless search of an individual who is no longer serving their sentence.

The Georgia Legislature is likely already working to draft a new statute to allow for GPS monitoring for life.

Call us today!

If you are arrested for child molestation or any other sex offense in Georgia, it is imperative that you fight the case and win the case at the trial level. If you plead guilty to child molestation or any sex offense and are on the Georgia Sex Offender Registry, you will likely be restricted and monitored by the State even when your criminal sentence is over. It is vital to put the time, effort and money into fighting your child molestation case on the front end.

If you or a loved one are in need of a lawyer who handles child molestation cases and other sex offenses in Georgia, please email me at mike@peachstatelawyer.com or call 404-581-0999 for a free consultation.