Sex offenders in Franklin County and the rest of Pennsylvania will face stricter registration and notification requirements under a new law scheduled for full implementation by the end of the year.
"I felt that the system was good. It definitely notified the community that these people were in their area," said Cpl. Bernard Stanalonis of Pennsylvania State Police, Chambersburg. "But with these changes, it's going to be that much tighter and complex."
Gov. Tom Corbett signed the changes into law Dec. 20, with a few aspects taking effect immediately and in late February. As for the bulk of the new requirements, law enforcement agencies around the state have until the end of the year before the law becomes fully enforceable.
Once in effect, the updated law will bring Pennsylvania into compliance with a 2006 federal statute called the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. It is named for a 6-year-old boy who was abducted in 1981 from a Florida department store and decapitated.
Franklin County District Attorney Matthew Fogal wrote in an e-mail that he is pleased with the legislation, which "fixes the prior Megan's Law loophole/oversight that existed far too long."
It was previously impossible to prosecute transients and certain out-of-state offenders sentenced to fulfill the registration requirement.
"Now the statute has been amended to include those sentenced out-of-state, and transients, which allows us to do our jobs and enforce the law as it was originally
intended," Fogal wrote. "Fortunately, in the past two years, there have only been two cases that had to ultimately be withdrawn because of the loophole."
Stanalonis said one of the most significant changes, dealing with homeless offenders, took immediate effect and is being enforced statewide, but it has had little effect locally.
"The new transient requirement is that if you're an offender and do not have a permanent address, you must come in and register every 30 days," he said. "But we don't have any transient offenders in Franklin County."
If an offender becomes homeless at any time, they are required to notify state police. The offender's victim or victims will subsequently be notified of the offender's change in status, according to the updated law.
The law previously required out-of-state offenders to register in Pennsylvania once they have been in the state for 30 days. This will change to seven days under the new law. New residents will now be subject to the same criminal penalties for failure to register in Pennsylvania is they were required to register for life in their home states.
The new law will also establish a sex offenders list and registration requirements for juvenile offenders. The juvenile list will only be accessible by law enforcement, and those offenders may be eligible to have their names removed after 25 years.
Chief Daniel Hoover of Franklin County's Adult Probation Department said the department is now enforcing a new requirement that sex offenders sentenced to probation be immediately transported to state police for their initial registration.
"We used to be allowed to just tell the offender they had to go to PSP and register," he said. "New we have to physically drive them to the state police barracks and have the registration done."
Incarcerated offenders were previously required to register immediately upon their release. New requirements call for registration 30 days prior to release, Hoover said. Prisoners on work release also have to register. "You cannot leave the facility until you've been registered," Hoover said.
In its current form, Megan's Law in Pennsylvania requires offenders to either register for 10 years or for their lifetime, depending on the crimes they were convicted of. For instance, possession of child pornography results in a 10-year registration while crimes such as rape and sexual assault call for lifetime registration.
Those required to register for 10 years are required to appear at a state police station in their area once a year to have their photo taken and verify and update a variety of information. Those mandated to lifetime registration have to do so every 90 days.
"It's a lot of questions dealing with current biography, crimes, location of residences, where they work or go to school, their vehicles, whether they're on supervision or not, whether the victim was a minor or not," Stanalonis said.
The state also designates some offenders as 'Sexually Violent Predators,' which is court-ordered based in part on a recommendation by the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board. Those with the designation are required to register every 90 days for the rest of their lives and are subject to community notifications of their presence.
According to the Pennsylvania Megan's Law website, there are 131 registered sex offenders in Franklin County, and all but four of them are men. Their current registration types under the older version of the law are as follows:
- 47 were convicted of a sex crime in another state,
-- 35 are in-state offenders required to register for the rest of their lives,
- 43 are in-state offenders required to register for 10 years,
- Six have "sexually violent predator" status, which includes lifetime registration and neighborhood notification requirements.
By the end of the year, the old system will be replaced with three tiers of registration. Based on their crimes, offenders will be required to register once a year for 15 years, every six months of 25 years or every 90 days for life. Sexually violent predators will automatically fall under the third tier.
"As troopers, if you want to put it in very plain words, we don't care how much time it takes," Stanalonis said. "We're going to do it because it's the law."
While DNA collection and fingerprinting has been standard procedure, sex offenders will also be required to submit to a palm scan for inclusion in a national database.
More information about sex offender registration requirements and the registry itself can be found online at http://www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us.
"Frankly, I have seen an increase in these types of crimes in Franklin County over the past 10-12 years," Fogal wrote. "I believe that most citizens with common sense and humanity agree that the prison sentences required under current law for these types of offenses are appropriately severe."
Copyright 2012 - Public Opinion, Chambersburg, Pa.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
