…Neither the judge, nor the prosecutor, nor ____’s defense lawyer raised the possibility that he would one day be required to register as a sex offender, a transcript of the proceeding shows. That’s not surprising since at the time, the crime ____ admitted to — second-degree misdemeanor indecent assault — didn’t invoke Megan’s Law, which aims to protect the public from sex offenders by publishing their photos, addresses and other information on a website. … But that has changed due to a controversial new law pushed by Congress.
Ten months after ____’s February 2012 guilty plea, a get-tough bill enacted in Harrisburg amid the threatened loss of federal crime-fighting funds took effect, greatly expanding the state’s sex offender registry. Under the new rules, _____ must register for 15 years or face arrest for failing to do so. He is among scores of defendants across Pennsylvania who took plea deals calling for no registration, then were required to register anyway when the state changed its mind. Full Article