GA- Man freed over sex offender law

1-22-2009 Georgia:

A homeless Augusta man serving a life prison sentence for failing to register a home address because he is a sex offender will be freed.

Attorneys worked out an agreement on Larry Moore's behalf that was accepted Wednesday by Chief Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet.

The agreement meant Mr. Moore was granted a new trial and his July 2007 conviction for failure to register as a sex offender and his life sentence were voided. He then pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to time served. The agreement requires Mr. Moore to move immediately to North Carolina and register there as a sex offender.

Mr. Moore, 41, intends to live in North Carolina with his father.

Mr. Moore's case was back in Richmond County Superior Court on a motion for a new trial. His appellate attorney, Peter Johnson, believed Mr. Moore was entitled to a new trial based on two recent Georgia Supreme Court decisions.

In October the state's highest court ruled the sex offender registry law was unconstitutional as it applies to homeless people because they can't register addresses they don't have.

The following month the Georgia Supreme Court ruled the mandatory life sentence for a second violation of the law was unconstitutional because the punishment is grossly out of proportion to the crime.

Mr. Moore was convicted in North Carolina in 1994 of indecent liberties with a minor. When he moved to Augusta in 2003 he registered as a sex offender as required.

Mr. Moore would have finished the time period that he was required to register in 2004 except the law was changed, his attorney said. Instead of requiring registration for 10 years, the law was changed to registration for life, Mr. Johnson said.

The law was changed again in 2006 to prohibit a sex offender from living anywhere within 1,000 feet of any place where children might gather. That left only two places in Augusta where a sex offender could live - two Gordon Highway motels.

Mr. Moore moved to a Gordon Highway motel and re-registered his address with the sheriff's department.

When the hotel owner recognized he had a captive clientele and increased the rates, Mr. Moore ended up on the street, Mr. Johnson said.

Mr. Moore had been one of four men in Georgia serving a life sentence for failure to register. ..News Source.. by Sandy Hodson| Staff Writer