Loophole in Sex Offender Registry Law Targeted by Lawmakers
District Attorneys throughout Pennsylvania are urging state lawmakers to close loophole that allows some sex offenders to go without registering.
Megan’s Law requires sex offenders to register, but Cumberland County District Attorney Dave Freed said that the bill doesn’t specifically apply to offenders without a fixed address or offenders from out-of-state.
“The larger problem is, we’re becoming a haven for out-of-state sex offenders because they know they can live here, even if they’re out of registration in their home state. They can live here and not be prosecuted here because they know the loophole exists,” said Freed.
Freed said that he’s seen cases in Cumberland County in which a sex offender suspected of an assault could be charged with failing to register in Pennsylvania under Megan’s Law, but those charges had to be dropped, giving police one less tool to detain an offender while they investigate a possible crime.
“Just the way it’s been interpreted by our state court has rendered the failure to register of people who were homeless or transient, or failure to register of people who were out of state. Those sections of law are ineffective based on the way they were written,” said Freed.
Legislation to fix the loophole has passed the state House with unanimous approval.
A Senate GOP spokesman says that his caucus is reviewing the bill and may try to combine it with necessary changes to sex offender registration that are mandated by federal law. If passed by the chamber, the plan to close the loophole could be sent to the governor by the end of the year.
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Research shows that almost half (49%) of youth under age six and 42% of children ages 6 to 11 were sexually assaulted by a family member. (Justice Policy Institute, Pg 15)
A study reviewing sex crimes as reported to police revealed that:
93% of child sexual abuse victims knew their abusers
34.2% were family members
58.7 % were acquaintances
Only 7% of the perpetrators of child victims were strangers
40% of sexual assaults take place in the victim's own home
20% take place in the home of a friend, neighbor or relative. (Lynn University, Pg 6)
Please educate your kids about safety. KlassKids has some good information. Also,the hype about ex-offenders who don't register is just a way to scare the public and justify more money being thrown at a system that does NOT protect anyone.
There are over 750,000 registered men, women and children across the nation. Take a look at the "crimes" that can land you on the "list" and then if you add 3 or 4 family members who are basically placed on the same registry. That means over 2,000,000 individuals suffer the collateral damage cause these registries. Do your own research.
Vicki
Women Against Registry dot com
So if ex-sex offenders are so smart and know all the "loopholes," then why don't they get a law degree and file law suits to get these draconian laws knocked down?
Because it's a load of BS! Sex offenders do not know all the laws, and neither do the police or idiotic politicians passing them, violating their oath of office, just so they can "look tough" on crime, while actually doing nothing to prevent crime or protect anybody.
By passing draconian residency laws, and forcing people onto an online hit-list for vigilantes, you are making them potentially go underground, and some, not all, will re-offend, or stop registering due to the harse laws.