A Donegal man convicted of assaulting a 14-year-old girl on a walking trail is challenging the constitutionality of lifetime registration with police ordered for certain sex offenders. _____ _____’s contention that he should not be required to register for life because it exceeds the maximum prison sentence for his offense is one of several such appeals filed through the Fayette County Public Defender’s Office. Full Article
Read MoreTag: Pennsylvania
MA: SJC Ends Lifetime Parole for Sex Offenders
The Supreme Judicial Court today ruled that lifetime parole for sex offenders violates the state’s constitution, The Boston Globe reports. In a 6-1 decision where Justice Robert Cordy was the dissenter on some issues, the state’s highest court said judges alone have the power to sentence people. The state law that created “community parole supervision for life” for sex offenders unconstitutionally gives the Parole Board that same power. Full Article
Read MorePA: Change in sex offender law leads to appeals
In September 2011, ____ ____, then 26, was arrested for having a relationship with a 15-year-old girl. … Six months later, he agreed to plead no contest to misdemeanor counts of indecent assault and corruption of minors, while the prosecution dropped felony statutory sexual assault. … Nowhere in the agreement or at his March 5, 2012, plea hearing was there ever any mention of having to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law. … So months later, when Mr. ____ was notified by the Pennsylvania State Police to comply with the new…
Read MorePA: Myerstown man sentenced for failing to register as sex offender
More than two decades after receiving probation for an indecent assault charge in Florida, ____ ____ finds himself serving a prison sentence in Lebanon County today because he failed to register as a sex offender in Pennsylvania. ____, 52, of 411 N. College St., Myerstown, said he did not know of a change in law that occurred in December that requires him to register as a sex offender with Pennsylvania State Police. Full Article
Read MorePA: Megan’s Law sex offender list grows under new state rules
…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…
Read MorePA: Juvenile sex-offender registries are challenged
Though tried in juvenile court, with its focus on privacy and rehabilitation, he was later required by a 2012 Pennsylvania law to register as a sex offender — branded a long-term danger to society, with no way off the list for at least 25 years. Juvenile law advocates campaigning against such automatic registries argue that they undermine the rehabilitative purpose of juvenile law and wrongly force judges to treat offenders the same, no matter their circumstances. In Pennsylvania, local judges increasingly agree with them. Late last year, a central Pennsylvania…
Read MorePA: Third Judge Rules Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Unconstitutional
Under current Pennsylvania law, juvenile sex offenders have to comply with lifetime registration requirements. But this month, a third Pennsylvania judge ruled that law unconstitutional, setting the stage for the issue to be addressed by the state supreme court. Judges from York, Monroe, and Lancaster counties have now all written opinions stating that the law fails to take juveniles’ greater capacity for reform into account. Full Article
Read MorePA: Child Porn Charges Reinstated Against Sexting Teen
LEHIGH COUNTY, Pa.—In a move that may have the effect of branding a teenage girl—and possibly hundreds more—as a “sex offender” for life, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has reinstated child porn charges against the girl, known in court papers only as “C.S.”, who posted a hardcore video of two of her teenage friends on Facebook. C.S. was originally charged with violations of 18 Pa.C.S. §6312, “Sexual Abuse of Children,” for having “disseminated” the video in violation of subsection (c) of the law, and also under subsection (d), “Child Pornography.” However,…
Read MorePA: Carbondale sued over Megan’s Law ordinance
A former Carbondale man forced from his home because his son is registered under Megan’s Law is suing the city and the mayor, alleging he was targeted for enforcement because he challenged the constitutionality of a city ordinance that limited where sex offenders could live. ____ ____ of Archbald claims his son, ____, was among 15 Megan’s Law offenders living in Carbondale in 2012, but he was the only one singled out by Mayor Justin Taylor for enforcement of the ordinance, which precluded registered sex offenders from living within…
Read MorePA: Woman on Megan’s Law list, who never committed sex crime, breaks down
McKEES ROCKS, Pa. — A woman on the Megan’s Law list, even though she never committed a sex crime, broke down while talking to Channel 11 Friday. “I am not a sex offender. I would never hurt a child,” said ____ ____. ____ was in tears as she was about to face a judge in McKees Rocks for failing to register as a sex offender. Police said she moved without notifying state police. Four years ago, ____ was convicted of interference with custody of children. That crime falls under the newest version of Megan’s Law,…
Read MorePA: Supreme Court reinstates child porn charges in Lehigh County sexting case
A video of a teenage girl and boy engaged in a sex act circulated among Allentown youths for at least a year before another girl was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography for posting it on Facebook. Although a Lehigh County judge agreed with the girl’s attorneys that the charges were “an overreaction by law enforcement” and dismissed them in 2012, the state Supreme Court on Thursday reversed his decision. The girl, identified in court papers only as C.S., must return to Lehigh County juvenile court to face felony…
Read MorePA: Juvenile Law Center Wins Second Ruling Declaring Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Requirements Unconstitutional
For the second time in the last three months, a Pennsylvania judge has ruled that Pennsylvania’s juvenile sex offender registration requirements are unconstitutional. On January 16, 2014, Monroe County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Margherita Patti-Worthington ruled that Pennsylvania’s law requiring juveniles convicted of sexual offenses be subjected to lifetime sex offender registration violates their rights under the Pennsylvania Constitution. (Read Judge Patti-Worthington’s opinion here.) Full Article
Read MorePA: Judge made right ruling on juvenile sex offenders (Editorial)
In the twilight of his career, York County Common Pleas Court Judge John C. Uhler recently cemented his legacy as a legal lion of Pennsylvania with what might amount to a landmark ruling. It was the right ruling — deeply grounded in constitutional principles. Unfortunately for the judge, though, it’s probably not one that will make him popular among the lock-’em-up-and-throw-away-the-key crowd. In fact, the decision will likely be unpopular among the many people who believe sex offenders should receive death sentences — or at least life without parole. Full…
Read MorePA: Law requiring lifetime registration for juvenile sex offenders is unconstitutional
In a decision that seems destined for the appeals courts, a York County judge has ruled unconstitutional a two-year-old Pennsylvania law that imposes lifetime registration requirements on juvenile sex offenders. Senior Judge John C. Uhler issued his ruling against the juvenile registration provisions of the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act while weighing the cases of seven county teens adjudicated as having committed serious sex crimes. Uhler found that the registration mandate “unconstitutionally forecloses a court’s considerations of the many unique attributes of youth and juvenile offenders” under age 18…
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