The following definitions apply in this Article:

(1a) Aggravated offense. – Any criminal offense that includes either of the following: (i) engaging in a sexual act involving vaginal, anal, or oral penetration with a victim of any age through the use of force or the threat of serious violence; or (ii) engaging in a sexual act involving vaginal, anal, or oral penetration with a victim who is less than 12 years old.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(1b) County registry. – The information compiled by the sheriff of a county in compliance with this Article.

(1c) Department. – The Department of Public Safety.

(1d) Electronic mail. – The transmission of information or communication by the use of the Internet, a computer, a facsimile machine, a pager, a cellular telephone, a video recorder, or other electronic means sent to a person identified by a unique address or address number and received by that person.

(1e) Employed. – Includes employment that is full-time or part-time for a period of time exceeding 14 days or for an aggregate period of time exceeding 30 days during any calendar year, whether financially compensated, volunteered, or for the purpose of government or educational benefit.

(1f) Entity. – A business or organization that provides Internet service, electronic communications service, remote computing service, online service, electronic mail service, or electronic instant message or chat services whether the business or organization is inside or outside the State.

(1g) Instant message. – A form of real-time text communication between two or more people. The communication is conveyed via computers connected over a network such as the Internet.

(1h) Institution of higher education. – Any postsecondary public or private educational institution, including any trade or professional institution, college, or university.

(1i) Internet. – The global information system that is logically linked together by a globally unique address space based on the Internet Protocol or its subsequent extensions; that is able to support communications using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol suite, its subsequent extensions, or other Internet Protocol compatible protocols; and that provides, uses, or makes accessible, either publicly or privately, high-level services layered on the communications and related infrastructure described in this subdivision.

(1j) Mental abnormality. – A congenital or acquired condition of a person that affects the emotional or volitional capacity of the person in a manner that predisposes that person to the commission of criminal sexual acts to a degree that makes the person a menace to the health and safety of others.

(1k) Nonresident student. – A person who is not a resident of North Carolina but who is enrolled in any type of school in the State on a part-time or full-time basis.

(1l) Nonresident worker. – A person who is not a resident of North Carolina but who has employment or carries on a vocation in the State, on a part-time or full-time basis, with or without compensation or government or educational benefit, for more than 14 days, or for an aggregate period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year.

(1m) Offense against a minor. – Any of the following offenses if the offense is committed against a minor, and the person committing the offense is not the minor’s parent: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-39 (kidnapping), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-41 (abduction of children), and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-43.3 (felonious restraint). The term also includes the following if the person convicted of the following is not the minor’s parent: a solicitation or conspiracy to commit any of these offenses; aiding and abetting any of these offenses.

(1n) Online identifier. – Electronic mail address, instant message screen name, user ID, chat or other Internet communication name, but it does not mean social security number, date of birth, or pin number.

(2) Penal institution. – Any of the following:

a. A detention facility operated under the jurisdiction of the Division of Prisons of the Department of Adult Correction.

b. A detention facility operated under the jurisdiction of another state or the federal government.

c. A detention facility operated by a local government in this State or another state.

(2a) Personality disorder. – An enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment.

(2b) Recidivist. – A person who has a prior conviction for an offense that is described in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-208.6(4).

(3) Release. – Discharged or paroled.

(3e) Reoffender. – A person who has two or more convictions for a felony that is described in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-208.6(4). For purposes of this definition, if an offender is convicted of more than one offense in a single session of court, only one conviction is counted.

(4) Reportable conviction. – Any of the following:

a. A final conviction for an offense against a minor, a sexually violent offense, or an attempt to commit any of those offenses unless the conviction is for aiding and abetting. A final conviction for aiding and abetting is a reportable conviction only if the court sentencing the individual finds that the registration of that individual under this Article furthers the purposes of this Article as stated in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-208.5

b. A final conviction in another state of an offense, which if committed in this State, is substantially similar to an offense against a minor or a sexually violent offense as defined by this section, or a final conviction in another state of an offense that requires registration under the sex offender registration statutes of that state.

c. A final conviction in a federal jurisdiction (including a court martial) of an offense, which is substantially similar to an offense against a minor or a sexually violent offense as defined by this section.

d. A final conviction for a violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202(d), (e), (f), (g), or (h), or a second or subsequent conviction for a violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202(a), (a1), or (c), only if the court sentencing the individual issues an order pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202(l) requiring the individual to register.

e. A final conviction for a violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-43.14, only if the court sentencing the individual issues an order pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-43.14(e) requiring the individual to register.

f. A final conviction in a State court-martial proceeding imposing confinement under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 127A-48 or N.C. Gen. Stat. § 127A-49 for an offense which is substantially similar to an offense against a minor or a sexually violent offense as defined in this section.

(5) Sexually violent offense. – A violation of former N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.6 (attempted rape or sexual offense), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.21 (first-degree forcible rape), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.22 (second-degree forcible rape), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.23 (statutory rape of a child by an adult), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.24 (first-degree statutory rape), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.25(a) (statutory rape of a person who is 15 years of age or younger and where the defendant is at least six years older), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.26 (first-degree forcible sexual offense), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.27 (second-degree forcible sexual offense), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.28 (statutory sexual offense with a child by an adult), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.29 (first-degree statutory sexual offense), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.30(a) (statutory sexual offense with a person who is 15 years of age or younger and where the defendant is at least six years older), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.31 (sexual activity by a substitute parent or custodian), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.32 (sexual activity with a student), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.33 (sexual battery), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-43.11 (human trafficking) if (i) the offense is committed against a minor who is less than 18 years of age or (ii) the offense is committed against any person with the intent that they be held in sexual servitude, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-43.13 (subjecting or maintaining a person for sexual servitude), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-178 (incest between near relatives), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.6 (employing or permitting minor to assist in offenses against public morality and decency), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.9(a1) (felonious indecent exposure), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.16 (first degree sexual exploitation of a minor), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.17 (second degree sexual exploitation of a minor), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.17A (third degree sexual exploitation of a minor), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202.1 (taking indecent liberties with children), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202.3 (Solicitation of child by computer or certain other electronic devices to commit an unlawful sex act), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202.4(a) (taking indecent liberties with a student), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-205.2(c) or (d) (patronizing a prostitute who is a minor or has a mental disability), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-205.3(b) (promoting prostitution of a minor or a person who has a mental disability), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-318.4(a1) (parent or caretaker commit or permit act of prostitution with or by a juvenile), or N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-318.4(a2) (commission or allowing of sexual act upon a juvenile by parent or guardian). The term also includes the following: a solicitation or conspiracy to commit any of these offenses; aiding and abetting any of these offenses.

(6) Sexually violent predator. – A person who has been convicted of a sexually violent offense and who suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes the person likely to engage in sexually violent offenses directed at strangers or at a person with whom a relationship has been established or promoted for the primary purpose of victimization.

(7) Sheriff. – The sheriff of a county in this State.

(8) Statewide registry. – The central registry compiled by the Department in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-208.14

(9) Student. – A person who is enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis, in any postsecondary public or private educational institution, including any trade or professional institution, or other institution of higher education. (1995, c. 545, s. 1; 1997-15, ss. 1, 2; 1997-516, s. 1; 1999-363, s. 1; 2001-373, s. 1; 2002-147, s. 16; 2003-303, s. 2; 2004-109, s. 8; 2005-121, s. 2; 2005-130, s. 1; 2005-226, s. 2; 2006-247, ss. 1(b), 19(a), 20(d); 2008-117, s. 6.1; 2008-220, s. 1; 2009-498, s. 1; 2010-174, s. 16(a); 2011-145, s. 19.1(h), (j); 2012-153, s. 3; 2012-194, s. 4(a); 2013-33, s. 1; 2013-368, s. 19; 2014-100, s. 17.1(x); 2015-62, s. 1(b); 2015-181, s. 32; 2017-102, s. 5; 2017-186, s. 2(q); 2018-47, s. 4(h); 2021-138, s. 18(b); 2021-180, s. 19C.9(ii); 2023-86, s. 7(a).)