Claim: The White House will appear on the sex offender registry after Trump takes office

A post dated November 9 (direct link, archive link) on X, formerly Twitter, shows the exterior of the White House.

“On January 20th, this address will appear on the national sex offender registry for the next 4 years,” the post reads. “What country.”

It was reposted more than 26,000 times in eight days. like version were posted on Facebook.

More from the fact-checking team: How we choose and research claims | Newsletter by e-mail | Facebook page

Our Rating: False

Trump has never been convicted of a sex crime and is not required to register as a sex offender, meaning the White House will not appear on any such registry. He was found guilty in a civil case of sexually abusing the writer E. Jean Carroll.

Trump was found guilty of sexual abuse in a civil case

In May 2023, a federal jury found against Donald Trump responsible for sexual abuse Carroll in the dressing room of a New York department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. Trump was ordered to pay $5 million in damages.

However, the outcome of that case did not require Trump to register as a sex offender — a claim that USA TODAY previously dismantled. The case was civil, not criminal, meaning Trump was not charged with and could not be convicted of a crime in that court action.

Maggie Gardnerprofessor of law at Cornell University, previously told USA TODAY there are important differences between criminal and civil cases.

“A criminal conviction means that the government prosecuted you and proved your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt — that’s a much higher standard than the one typically used in civil juries, which is by a preponderance of the evidence, which means that the jury thought was more likely than not. that Trump sexually assaulted Carroll,” Gardner said.

Fact checking: Post Falsely Claims 2024 Election Had 20 Million Fewer Votes

Trump couldn’t be prosecuted for sexual assault because the statute of limitations had already passed. Instead, Carroll filed a lawsuit against Trump using a 2022 New York law which gave victims of adult sexual assault a one-year window to sue their alleged perpetrators, regardless of when the abuse occurred.

The jury has chosen to find Trump guilty of sexual abusenot rape, based on state legal definitions.

Post X refers to a “national sex offender registry,” but that doesn’t exist—each state has its own registry. The Department of Justice has a website which allows users to search registries for all 50 states. In New York, where Carroll sued Trump, anyone incarcerated or on parole or probation for a sex offense on or after January 21, 1996, is required to register as a sex offender.

In a separate civil case, Trump was ordered to pay Carroll a additional damages of $83 million for defamation after he denied her allegations of sexual assault and said “people should pay dearly for such false allegations”.

Trump was convicted in May of criminal charges – 34 crimes – for falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Trump’s re-election is still unclear means for the caseincluding his sentencing, which had been scheduled for Nov. 26 before the judge stopped all proceedings. The social media user who shared the post could not be reached for comment.

Snopes also debunked the claim.

Our fact-checking sources

• USA TODAY, May 9, 2023, Jury finds Donald Trump liable in civil sexual assault case of E. Jean Carroll

• USA TODAY, May 16, 2023, No, Trump is not required to register as a sex offender after the E. Jean Carroll case | Fact checking

• USA TODAY, January 29, Did Donald Trump Rape E. Jean Carroll? Here’s what a jury and a judge had to say.

• Governor Kathy Hochul’s website, 24 May 2022, Governor Hochul signs the Adult Survivors Act

• Dru Sjodin National Public Sex Offender Site, accessed November 18 About NSOPW

• New York Division of Criminal Justice Services, accessed November 18, Frequently Asked Questions: New York State Sex Offender Registry

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.

USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to impartiality, fairness and transparency. Our fact-checking activity is supported in part by a grant from Meta.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump White House Will Not Be On Sex Offender Registry | Fact checking