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For Immediate
Release
11/15/11
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Senate Endorses Orie's 'Adam Walsh' Child Protection Bill
(HARRISBURG) --The state Senate today passed legislation to bring
Pennsylvania into compliance with federal law and ensure that Pennsylvania meets
federally mandated national standards to strengthen sex offender registration
and notification.
Senator Jane Orie (R-Allegheny), who sponsored
Senate Bill 1183, said the
bill will strengthen the state's efforts to track sex offenders, include the
state as part of a national registry that law enforcement officials can access,
and expands the list of sexually violent offenses covered under the law.
It is needed to bring Pennsylvania into compliance with the federal Sex
Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), part of the Adam Walsh Child
Protection and Safety Act of 2006. Pennsylvania must bring its law into
"substantial compliance" or suffer a 10 percent reduction in federal crime
protection grants.
"The Adam Walsh Act is crucial to protecting our children from predators
because it seeks to create a national sex offender registry that will be
available on the Internet and have uniform enforcement," Orie said. "The act
also provides stricter prison sentences for offenders who fail to register and
keep their information current. The convicted offender will have to register in
person, and the worst offenders will have to check in more frequently – ensuring
that they don't slip through the cracks."
She commended three parties for their assistance in the drafting and
development of the final language in Senate Bill 1183, as adopted by the Senate;
the Governor's office, Senate Judiciary Chairman Stewart Greenleaf
(R-Montgomery), in particular for the provisions which close loopholes in
current law that have allowed homeless and out-of-state offenders to avoid
registering under the state's Megan's Law, and Senator John C. Rafferty, Jr.
(R-Montgomery), who has sponsored this effort with Senator Orie for several
years now and shares her commitment to seeing that these changes get adopted.
The legislation also:
- Increases the amount of information collected from each offender and
requires Pennsylvania to include more information on its Megan's Law website.
In addition, Pennsylvania State Police would be required to communicate
registration information with federal, state and local police departments
more quickly than they currently do.
- Extends the registration requirement to juvenile offenders who commit
rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault,
or an attempt or conspiracy to commit these offenses.
- Expands the list of sexually violent offenses subject to the law and
groups offenders into multiple classifications, depending on the severity of
the offense.
- Recaptures back into Megan's Law offenders with prior convictions for
sexual offenses but not currently subject to registration, if the offender
re-enters the criminal justice system because of a new felony conviction.
Orie said the changes will ensure that Pennsylvania meets federal
requirements and makes the system more uniform, more inclusive, more
informative, and more readily available to the public.
"We need to have a strong and coordinated system in place to protect our
children from predators," Orie said. "This legislation will put tough penalties
in place and establish uniformity in how we deal with the very serious problem."
CONTACT: Michael Sarfert (717) 787-6538
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