TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jul 21, 2025

The state of Tennessee agreed to permanently remove a woman from the sex offender registry months after a judge found she had been “falsely labeled as a sex offender.” But state officials included a stipulation in the agreement forbidding her and her attorneys from discussing the agreement and her lawsuit with the media, The Tennessean reports. They also are barred from speaking to lawyers involved in “sex offender litigation.” That limitation could be unconstitutional, according to a First Amendment lawyer. The woman, who is not named, was threatened that a drug dealer would kill her son if she did not join him in kidnapping his own son. Police said the man ordered her and another woman also to provide sexual services. After six months in jail, the woman pleaded guilty to the federal charge of aiding and abetting kidnapping. After release from prison, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s (TBI) general counsel decided to place her on the state's sex offender registry. She sued the TBI in 2023, and a federal judge ordered her removed from the registry while her lawsuit was ongoing. The state has now settled the suit.