California's "Megan's Law"

Convictions for the following crimes require registration as a "serious" sex offender:

- continuous sexual abuse of a child
- felony penetration of genital or anal openings by a foreign object
- annoying or molesting a child with sexual intent
- kidnapping of a child under 14 for purposes of lewd conduct, kidnapping with the intent to commit rape or oral copulation or sodomy or rape by instrument, abduction of a minor for purposes of prostitution
- assault to commit rape or sodomy or foreign object rape
- rape, except spousal rape, or felony sexual battery
- forcible sodomy

"High Risk" offenders are guilty of multiple offenses.

The Fortuna Police Department makes access to the Megan's Law database available to citizens of Fortuna to inquire about other residents of Fortuna. For an appointment contact Sgt. Steve Rogers at 725-7550.
Access from the public is not allowed to the database in California however many states make this information available via the Internet. To find out more information about this please visit the Parents for Megan's Law web site

A Legal Warning
According to California law, this information may only be used to protect a person at risk.
Use of information disclosed pursuant to Penal Code 290.4 for any of the following is prohibited:

(A) Health insurance.
(B) Insurance.
(C) Loans.
(D) Credit.
(E) Employment.
(F) Education, scholarships, or fellowships.
(G) Housing or accommodations.
(H) Benefits, privileges, or services provided by any business establishment.
Any person who uses information disclosed pursuant to this section to commit a felony shall be punished, in addition and consecutive to, any other punishment, by a five-year term of imprisonment in the state prison.
Any person who, without authorization, uses information disclosed pursuant to this section to commit a misdemeanor shall be subject to, in addition to any other penalty or fine imposed, a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
In addition:
Any person who copies, distributes, discloses, or receives this record or information from it, except as authorized by law, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six months or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both.
California Attorney General Dan Lungren has stated that only the "mechanical" copying of the state's database would be illegal, and our hand-copying of information did not violate the law. In any event, the provision clearly appears to violate the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It is certainly possible, however, that a law enforcement agency could attempt to enforce the law as written.