On April 28, 2011, James Maynard of Maynard & Sumner, LLC in Morristown, New Jersey, argued a Motion to Terminate Megan’s Law registration on behalf of his client, M. P. After Mr. Maynard completed his argument, the prosecutor commented that she was left with little to oppose. Therefore, the Honorable Judge Jean B. McMaster, J.S.C. granted the motion to terminate M.P.’s status as a convicted sex offender. M.P. had been a registered sex offender under Megan’s Law since 1994.
M.P., a resident of Cumberland County, New Jersey, was convicted of one count of sexual assault in 1993, at which time she was sentenced to seven years in state prison. M.P. was released after serving two years in the state corrections facility. Upon reaching her fifteenth year on Megan’s Law, post-release from the corrections facility, she and her family sought the services of Mr. Maynard for a termination.
Megan’s Law was passed by the New Jersey State Legislature in 1994 requiring all convicted sex offenders to register yearly with the state police and verify their home and employment addresses. In addition, some sex offenders’ home and employment addresses are disseminated to the community or made publically available over the internet. In order for a sex offender to apply for termination, five requirements must be met:
- The registrant may apply 15 years post-conviction or release from a correctional facility (whichever is later) .
- The registrant has not committed any further offenses in that 15 year period.
- The registrant was convicted of no more than one offense.
- The registrant has not been convicted of any offence enumerated in N.J.S.A 2C:14-2 Subsection (A), or Paragraph 1 of Subsection (C).
- The registrant is not likely to pose a threat to the safety of others.
After Mr. Maynard’s presentation to the court, proving that M.P. satisfied all of the requirements of Megan’s Law, judge Jean B. McMaster, J.S.C. made the following statement:
“I have reviewed the documents that have been supplied on behalf of M.P [by Mr. Maynard]. This is a motion by her attorney to terminate Megan’s Law registration. The documents that were provided were very thorough. . . . I found that the argument is very well presented. It is broken down in the five categories that were enumerated and then supplemented by the exhibits . . . The motion is granted. M.P. is terminated from all further Megan’s Law obligations, requirements, and disabilities pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2(e). So I thank everyone today.”