Committee Approves Pippy Legislation to List Sex Offender Addresses on Web Site

Part of legislative effort to provide more protection to Pennsylvania 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.

###

CONTACT: Matt Campion (412) 571-3822