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Committee Approves Pippy Legislation to List
Sex Offender
Addresses on Web Site
Part of
Legislative Effort to Provide More Protection to
Children
HARRISBURG -- The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved
legislation sponsored by state Sen. John Pippy (R-37) that
would require that all address information for sex offenders
be listed on the state Megan's Law web site.
The bill
was sent to the full Senate for consideration.
Pippy's
legislation, Senate Bill 1054, would require that the
addresses of all of Pennsylvania's 7,800 convicted sex
offenders be listed on the site, which is maintained by
State Police. Presently, addresses of only about 100
offenders designated as a "sexually violent predator" are
listed. The remainder includes only county, hometown and zip
code.
The
measure would also require the site to note which sexual
offenders committed their crime against children, Pippy
said. The address for the Pennsylvania Megan's Law site is
www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us.
"I am
grateful to the Judiciary Committee for taking this first
step toward protecting children from the thousands of
registered sex offenders who are living in Pennsylvania,
without the knowledge of their neighbors," Pippy said.
A
"sexual offender" is a person who has been convicted of one
of 14 sexually violent offenses, including rape and unlawful
contact with a minor. A "sexually violent predator" is a
sexual offender who has been determined by the court to have
a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes the
person likely to engage in predatory sexually violent
offenses.
Senate
Bill 1054 is part of legislation entitled "Pennsylvania's
Jessica's Law" (Senate Bill 944), sponsored by Sen. Jane
Orie (R-40) and Sen. John Rafferty (R-44), which would
strengthen the Pennsylvania Megan's Law by increasing
penalties on sexual predators, requiring GPS monitoring of
sexual predators, and adding stricter registration
requirements for sexual predators.
Megan's
laws are named after a New Jersey girl who was raped and
killed by a neighbor who was a convicted sex offender.
Jessica's Law is named for Jessica Lunsford, a Florida girl
kidnapped, raped and murdered by a sexual offender with a
long criminal history.
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