In my last blog, I talked about Sex Offender Intensive Supervised Probation (SOISP) and how to be successful on this type of probation in Fort Collins and Larimer County. Unfortunately, we have clients who are unable or unwilling to follow the strict rules with SOISP and they end up facing a probation revocation. In many cases, there is much more at stake for an SOISP revocation than just a regular revocation. This is because the sentences are generally longer, so a long period of incarceration is at stake if probation thinks they can’t work with you anymore. Some sex offense crimes, like Sexual Assault, Sexual Assault on a Child or Internet Luring carry indeterminate sentences – meaning you can deal with some form of supervision for life. If you are sentenced to an indeterminate SOISP sentence of 10 to life, but you get revoked, your sentence could then be converted to an indeterminate prison sentence.
SOISP Probation Restrictions in Fort Collins and Loveland: The Use of Polygraphs in SOISP
When you are first placed on probation, you will be facing the harshest restrictions. You can’t go anywhere without explicit permission in the form of a safety plan, and even then, you may be limited in the days and times you can go to certain places. You have to tell your probation officer where you will be everyday and believe that they will go to those places to check that you are where you say you are going to be. Gone are the days of making a last-minute pit stop on the way home from work. Then, because probation can’t just follow you around all day, you will be asked to prove that you have been compliant with all the rules during your maintenance polygraphs. These polygraphs are given frequently and the purpose is to check that you are following all the rules. While you cannot be revoked for failing a polygraph, you will have to re-take it until you pass and can have restrictions tightened even more if you aren’t passing these polygraphs.
Types of Violations that Lead to SOISP Probation Revocations in Larimer County
Sometimes, we see probation revocation complaints where the alleged violations are relatively small, and mostly technical violations. Sometimes the complaints allege something a judge would view more serious. For example, you call into your probation officer in the morning and state that you are going to be home from work at 5:30 p.m. Your probation officer shows up for a home visit at 6:00 p.m. and you are not there. You got stuck at work and forgot to call and update your schedule. This is a technical violation, as now probation is fearful that you are maybe not to be trusted or not where you claim to be. Sometimes these fears can be alleviated by having a boss or supervisor verify you were there. For a more serious violation, let’s say you are on SOISP for an internet related sex crime, like Sexual Exploitation of a Child. Your probation officer comes to do a home visit and finds that you have multiple devices, like phones or laptops, that you do not have monitoring software on. This would be a more major violation, as not only is it against the rules, it also more directly relates to the underlying crime for which you were placed on SOISP.
Facing a Probation Revocation for Your Sex Offender Intensive Supervised Probation? Call Us Today
Here’s the bottom line: You can be revoked for multiple smaller violations, like hot UAs, location violations, etc. or you can be revoked for one violation if probation feels it is too problematic. The fact is, if you are on Sex Offender Intensive Supervised Probation (SOISP) for 10 years, you are going to make mistakes. You may have a good relationship with your probation officer and they may offer you second, third, fourth chances. But, if you hit the PO’s threshold for making too many mistakes, all those mistakes will be listed and come back to haunt you. Then a verified complaint for revocation of probation is filed with the court and you are facing serious consequences. This is when you want to get an experienced criminal defense attorney involved to try and minimize the penalties related to your SOISP probation revocation.
If you or someone you love is facing a probation revocation, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact the best criminal defense attorneys from the O’Malley Law Office at 970-658-0007 to schedule your free initial consultation. Together, we can protect your future.
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