Can my son get record of sex offense committed at age 16?

Full question:

My son was tried as a Junvenile, in Jefferson County, and entered into a plea bargain that if he did good on his probabtion, everything would be go away. He was accused of raping a girl, who was 14 and he was barely 16 at the time. He did not have sex ual intercourse with this girl.... but did have consensual oral sex. He was on house arrest for so long that he couldn't stand it anymore. So he took a plea, instead of going to court with his case, and was then placed back under house arrest for the probation period. Anyway, the question is this? How long do we have to wait to see if the courts will allow expungement of his record? When the judge revoked his probabtion because he wasnt obeying everything....he said it would only be a few years, but his says 5. Also I was told by 1 lawyer that he didn't know if his record could be expunged or not? My son is now 21, and this happened when he was 16. Also, he was on house arrest for a year and a half, it was crazy....and the Junvenile dept sent a letter releasing him off Sept/2009. He is not a sex offender and yet has now had to file as one. I was told back then that we could get his record expunged, but now I am scared as this one lawyer said he is not sure John's record can be expunged. There is so much too this, I wish I could do it all over again and go to trial. John had witnesses there with hm and everything, he just got worned down by the house arrest. The Junvenile dept wouldn't even let him leave our house with us, his parents. It was crazy. My son's name is John E Moore DOB 5-4-1990.

• Category: Criminal
• Subcategory: Expungement of Criminal Records
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Oregon

Answer:

In Oregon, in juvenile cases (crimes committed under the age of 17), the court may order expunction of all or any part of the person’s record if it finds that to do so would be in the best interests of the person and the public. O.S. § 419A.262.

Also for expunction of juvenile records, the following conditions must be met:

(a) At least five years have elapsed since the date of the person’s most recent termination;
(b) Since the date of the most recent termination, the person has not been convicted of a felony or a Class A misdemeanor;
(c) No proceedings seeking a criminal conviction or an adjudication in a juvenile court are pending against the person;
(d) The person is not within the jurisdiction of any juvenile court on the basis of a petition alleging an act or behavior as defined in ORS 419B.100 (1)(a) to (c) and (f) or 419C.005 (delinquency and dependency cases); and
(e) The juvenile department is not aware of any pending investigation of the conduct of the person by any law enforcement agency.

Also, when a person who is the subject of a record kept by a juvenile court or juvenile department reaches 18 years of age, the juvenile court, after a hearing when the matter is contested, shall order expunction if:

(a) The person never has been found to be within the jurisdiction of the court; or
(b) The conditions listed in the preceeding paragraphs have been met.

Regardless of the above, the court may also order juvenile records expunged when it finds it is in the best interests of justice. O.S. § 419A.262.

For juvenile records sought to be expunged under O.S. § 419A.262, an expunction proceeding shall be commenced in the county where the subject person resided at the time of the most recent termination. Upon application of either a person who is the subject of a record or a juvenile department, or upon its own motion, the juvenile court may order expunction if it finds the above described conditions are met or it is in the interests of justice to expunge the records.

When an expunction proceeding is commenced by application of the person whose records are to be expunged, the person shall set forth as part of the application the names of the juvenile courts, juvenile departments, institutions and law enforcement and other agencies which the person has reason to believe possess an expungible record of the person. The juvenile department shall provide the names and addresses of the juvenile courts, juvenile departments, institutions and law enforcement and other agencies which a reasonable search of department files indicates have expungible records.

The district attorney of the county in which the expunction proceeding is commenced and the district attorney of each county in which the record sought to be expunged is kept must be served with notice and a copy of of the motion. Within 30 days of being served with the notice of application for expunction, a district attorney shall give written notice of any objection. If objections are filed or the court intends to deny the subject person’s motion to expunge, a hearing will be held. Actual notice must be served upon the subject of the records when the person is over 21 years old.