By Rick Pluta, MPRN News
LANSING, MI – Teenagers convicted of under-aged consensual sex will no longer face a lifetime on the state's sex offender registry under a new law signed by Governor Rick Snyder.
The law deals with so-called "Romeo and Juliet" cases where teens within four years of each other have a romantic relationship. The age of consent in Michigan is 16 years old. The law will allow people on the registry for an under-aged sex conviction to be removed. Michigan State Police Sergeant Nicholas Hawkins says every request will have to be reviewed by a judge.
"All offenders are going to have to petition the court to come off the registry," says Sergeant Hawkings. "So the judge is really going to have the discretion to look back into the case, and to look back at the offense to see if these people are still a danger to society, and, if, so, they won't be removed."
People convicted of serious sex crimes will continue to be listed on the registry. Michigan risked losing federal victim compensation funds if it did not change its sex offender registry law.