...We reverse. I. Georgia's central child abuse registry, also known as the Child Protective Services Information System ("the Act"), is a statutory system that provides for the establishment *888and maintenance of a central registry containing information about "substantiated" cases of child abuse. See OCGA §§ 49-5-18 - 49-5-187....

...The Act requires that DFCS investigate reports of child abuse and, if the abuse investigator finds by a preponderance of the evidence that an act of child abuse occurred, information must be added to the registry about the abuse, the abuser, the child victim, and the child's guardian. See OCGA §§ 49-5-182, 49-5-183....

...compiling statistical information regarding substantiated cases of abuse; responding to inquiries from individuals seeking to find out whether the individual's own name is included in the registry; and meeting federal funding requirements. See OCGA § 49-5-185. OCGA § 49-5-183 requires that DFCS must notify an alleged abuser when his or her name is added to the registry. See OCGA § 49-5-183 (a). The alleged abuser may then request an evidentiary hearing before an administrative law judge ("ALJ") by submitting a written request for a hearing to DFCS within ten days after receiving the notice. See OCGA § 49-5-183 (a) & (c). The general public is excluded from the administrative hearing, and the associated records are kept under seal. See OCGA § 49-5-183 (e). The ALJ makes the final "administrative determination regarding whether, based on a preponderance of evidence, there was child abuse committed by the alleged child abuser to justify the investigator's determination of a substantiated case." OCGA § 49-5-183 (d). If not, the ALJ must order the alleged abuser's name removed from the registry. OCGA § 49-5-183 (e). Either party may seek judicial review of the ALJ's decision by filing a petition in the superior court of the county in which the administrative hearing was held. OCGA § 49-5-183 (f)....

...I got off of him and walked away a little from him to make him stop. According to K.S.'s statement, Steiner was 52 years old at the time. DFCS conducted an investigation and determined that this encounter was a "substantiated case" of child sexual abuse, as defined in OCGA § 49-5-180 (8) & (10) and OCGA § 19-7-5 (b) (10).2 *889Steiner's name and identifying information were therefore added to the child abuse registry, along with a copy of the DFCS investigator's report and a classification of the abuse as sexual. I...

...g. Although the Act provides for the use of information in the registry by prosecutors "in any court proceeding in the course of any criminal prosecution," such use is limited to circumstances in which the information "is otherwise admissible." OCGA § 49-5-186 (b) (1)....

...Children and Youth." The registry is to be "operated in such a manner as to enable abuse investigators to: (1) Immediately identify and locate substantiated cases; and (2) Maintain and produce aggregate statistical data of substantiated cases." OCGA § 49-5-181 (b)....

...See, e.g., Smith at 102, 123 S.Ct. 1140 ("Any number of governmental programs might deter crime without imposing punishment."). In any event, the statutory provisions limiting access to the registry-indeed, unauthorized access is itself a crime, see OCGA § 49-5-186 (c) & (d) -demonstrate that the list cannot be fairly characterized as a warning to others to avoid acts of abuse....

...rgument that a child abuse investigator is performing a judicial function when he or she determines that a report of child abuse is a "substantiated case"-that is, that the report "has been confirmed based upon a preponderance of the evidence." OCGA § 49-5-180 (10)....

...With respect to the child abuse registry, the abuse investigator's role is limited to investigating reports of child abuse and notifying DFCS if the investigator finds sufficient evidence to conclude that the abuse more likely than not occurred. See OCGA § 49-5-182....

...ion without violating due process fairness principles). Instead, the alleged abuser has the right to request a hearing before an ALJ, who makes the final agency decision after hearing evidence and argument from the alleged abuser and from DFCS. OCGA § 49-5-183 (d)....

...finding that DFCS proved an act of child abuse as defined in the Act, the superior court erred in reversing the ALJ's finding on this issue. Judgment reversed. All the Justices concur. Steiner reportedly is or was a friend of K.S.'s mother. OCGA § 49-5-180 (b)(10) defines a "[s]ubstantiated case" as "an investigation of a child abuse report by an abuse investigator which has been confirmed based upon a preponderance of the evidence that child abuse has occurred." OCGA § 49-5-180 (b)(8) refers to the definition of child sexual abuse in OCGA § 19-7-5 (b) (10), which in turn defines "sexual abuse" of a minor as, in relevant part: a person's employing, using, persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing any minor wh...

...e very serious concerns regarding the constitutionality of the statute if the State were to assert that a person included in the registry could not raise a constitutional challenge to the Act after expiration of the ten-day period set out under OCGA § 49-5-183 (a) & (c) if a cognizable constitutional interest subsequently developed. These other jurisdictions have reached differing conclusions about precisely what kind of factual showing is required for an effect on employment to meet the "plus" element of the stigma-plus test....

...Here, as in Smith , these factors "are of little weight." Smith , 538 U.S. at 105, 123 S.Ct. 1140. We note that lack of consent of the minor victim is not an element of child sexual abuse as it is defined in the Act, except in certain circumstances not present here. See OCGA §§ 49-5-180 (8) ; 19-7-5 (b) (10).