PA - Being murdered by doctors in my town/state

The following was sent to us via the "Tell Us Your Story" form and posted with the users permission.

By Crystal:
Since 2005 I have been being accused of a sex offense against a family member and am being flat out murdered by doctors here in my town/state. I am suffering right now in my house unable to breathe with a heart condition and no doctor in my county will help me. I have not be convicted of any crime nor have I ever been brought up of charges for any crime. I don't know what to do. I have a child here that still needs me and I'm to ill to do all the things I need to do as a mom. Can you all help me in any way my number is 717-786-5699

PA - Pennsylvania's Megan's Law mandate unfairly punishes offenders, court rules

Original Article

10/14/2014

By Peter Hall

Some of Pennsylvania's latest sex offender registration requirements run afoul of a constitutional ban on laws that create new penalties for people who have already paid for their crimes, the Commonwealth Court has ruled.

The panel of seven Commonwealth Court judges also found, however, that requiring sex offenders to reveal their email addresses and other online aliases is not a violation of the First Amendment right to anonymous speech.

_____, convicted in 2001 of sexual assault, had already served his prison sentence and probation when the fourth revision of Pennsylvania's version of Megan's Law, named the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, took effect in 2012.

_____ argued that the revisions to Megan's Law were so much more punitive than the earlier version of the law that they violated provisions in the state and federal constitutions that prevent states from imposing tougher penalties for crimes than were in place when they were committed.

He also argued that the new requirement to provide information about his online identities violated his right to anonymous online speech because his crime did not involve a minor on the Internet.

_____, 63, was convicted in Montgomery County Court of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at a suburban Philadelphia restaurant. His attorney, Burton A. Rose of Philadelphia, had not read the decision and declined to comment. State police officials were unavailable to comment.

In an opinion for the unanimous panel, Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer rejected _____'s claims with regard to a majority of the new registration requirements, including mandates to appear in person to register four times a year and to provide extensive personal information, palm prints and DNA samples, plus advance notice of international travel.

Jubelirer wrote that each of those requirements is related to public safety and not intended as a punishment.

Failure to comply with the requirements is a felony punishable by a five-year prison sentence, according to the opinion.

Read the entire story

PA - Majority of minors engage in Sexting, unaware of harsh legal consequences

Original Article

06/18/2014

Sexting among youth is more prevalent than previously thought, according to a new study from Drexel University that was based on a survey of undergraduate students at a large northeastern university. More than 50 percent of those surveyed reported that they had exchanged sexually explicit text messages, with or without photographic images, as minors.

The study also found that the majority of young people are not aware of the legal ramifications of underage sexting. In fact, most respondents were unaware that many jurisdictions consider sexting among minors – particularly when it involves harassment or other aggravating factors – to be child pornography, a prosecutable offense. Convictions of these offenses carry steep punishments, including jail time and sex offender registration.

“This is a scary and disturbing combination,” said researcher David DeMatteo, JD, PhD. “Given the harsh legal penalties sometimes associated with youth sexting and the apparent frequency with which youth are engaging in it, the lack of comprehension regarding such penalties poses a significant problem.”

The study, entitled “Youth Sexting: Prevalence Rates, Driving Motivations, and the Deterrent Effect of Legal Consequences,” was published online in June 2014 by the journal entitled Sexuality Research and Social Policy. The full article is available here.

In addition to DeMatteo, an associate professor of psychology and law and director of Drexel’s joint JD/PhD program in psychology and law in the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Law, the study was conducted by lead author Heidi Strohmaier, a PhD candidate in psychology, and Megan Murphy, a JD/PhD candidate. For a Q+A with the researchers, click here.

The study, in which undergraduate students from a large northeastern university completed an anonymous online survey concerning their engagement in sexting as minors, revealed a significant relationship between awareness of legal consequences and sexting behavior as minors.

Those who were aware of the potential legal consequences reported sexting as a minor significantly less than those who were not aware of the legal consequences. Additionally, most respondents who reported being unaware of the potential legal consequences of sexting expressed the belief that they may have been deterred from sexting as a minor if they had known.

The finding that legal consequences may deter youth from sexting has important policy implications, according to the researchers.

In many jurisdictions, the law has yet to catch up with youth sexting behavior and technological advances. Until recently, most states did not have a legal mechanism in place to handle cases of teenage sexting. Instead, they were required to fit this new teenage subculture into the existing legal framework. As a result, youth sexting was often subsumed under laws governing serious child pornography and child exploitation offenses. Convictions of these offenses carry steep punishments, including jail time and sex offender registration—punishments that many lawyers and legislatures have deemed too harsh for adolescent sexting.

Read the rest of the story

PA - Should young sex offenders be identified that way for life?

Original Article

05/12/2014

By LAURA BENSHOFF

Pennsylvania's Supreme Court is hearing arguments on whether teens found guilty of certain types of sexual offenses must be registered on public sex offender lists.

In some cases, that label can last for a lifetime. Pennsylvania adopted the federal Adam Walsh Act in 2012, which means that juveniles between 14 and 17 convicted of certain categories of sex crimes must register as sex offenders.

The challenge to the current registratrion requirements has brought more attention to the issue of juvenlie sex offenders — some of them are as young as 10 — and it raises tough questions: Where do kids learn to act that way? And how do judges and therapists currently treat sex offenders who are also children?

Natalie Dallard is a therapist at the Joseph J. Peters Institute in Philadelphia, an organization that provides treatment for survivors and perpetrators of sexual abuse. A variety of factors influence kids' behavior, she said.

"Probably nine out of 10 of the girls that I've worked with have been victims," said Dallard. "With boys, not as much as people think. Generally with boys there's a lot of other anger issues, and a lot of exposure to pornography, poor boundaries, and association with older peers, negative peers."

If kids are charged with a sexual assault, disclosing their own sexual trauma or family environment may actually backfire, said Megan Perez, a supervisor with the Public Defenders Association of Philadelphia. She said that if her clients have themselves been abused, she would not share that information in the courtroom.

"A lot of people assume that people who have been perpetrated against are more likely to be a perpetrator themselves," said Perez. "I think our Family Court judges in Philadelphia would look at a factor like that as more indicative of guilt than of innocence."

Consequences to fit the crime

There is a lot of evidence that kids' brains work differently than those of adults, especially when it comes to understanding consequences and controlling behavior.

"Impulse control develops as you get older," said Dallard. "You have a greater ability to manage some of these feelings. And young kids are also a lot more susceptible to outside influences, and they don't have that critical thinking to think out outcomes."

Dallard believes that sexual offenses elicit such an emotional response in people that it clouds their understanding of who the offender is.

"People are always asking me how I do what I do, but, at the end of the day, I'm helping children. Sex crimes are so stigmatized that people fail to see that these are children," said Dallard.

She recommends teaching boundaries and reducing access to pornography as keys to reducing assaults by young people.

In Pennsylvania, juvenile sex offenders who are found guilty are typically ordered to receive treatment — the minimum is six months of individual and group therapy. Depending on their own history of trauma, treatment could continue for two years.

Juveniles commit around 30 percent of sexual assaults against victims 18 and younger. Statistically, sex offenders – particularly young ones – are not likely to reoffend.

PA - Ex-officer (Daniel M. Lanious) waives hearing in child corruption case for sexting an underage child

Daniel M. Lanious

Original Article

04/02/2014

By Myles Snyder

MOUNT HOLLY SPRINGS (WHTM) - A former police officer accused of sending sexually explicit text messages to a 13-year-old girl has waived his preliminary hearing in the case.

Daniel M. Lanious, 49, of Carlisle, appeared before a district judge Wednesday and allowed a misdemeanor charge of corruption of minors to proceed to Cumberland County court.

The judge scheduled a formal arraignment June 19.

According to court documents, Lanious admitted to sending flirtatious and sexual text messages to the girl in July and August before the girl's mother found a message that read, "I wish you were home. I wish you were on birth control. I have a condom."

Lanious also admitted that he sent his son to the victim's house to see whether her mother planned to report the messages to police, documents state.

Lanious was a patrolman with the Carroll Valley Police Department in Adams County until he resigned last summer.

PA - Retired cop (Walter Sasse) arrested for sex assault of teenager

Walter Sasse

Original Article

03/06/2014

A retired police officer has been arrested on sex assault charges for a relationship he allegedly had with an underage girl.

Walter Sasse, 75, a 20-year Philadelphia police veteran most recently assigned to the mounted unit, was charged with nine crimes including unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors, sexual assault and indecent exposure. He was arrested last night and freed today after posting 10 percent of $50,000 bail. A preliminary hearing was set for March 25.

Court records show the alleged assault occurred on June 1, 2011. But a police source said the charges stem from a long-term relationship that started when the girl, who he allegedly met at a horse stable, was 15. A police spokeswoman said she had no details and referred questions to the special-victims unit; a supervisor there has declined to release details.

After his retirement, Sasse managed Courtesy Stable in Fairmount Park. According to an online biography, Sasse is a U.S. Army veteran who worked in Philly's mounted police for 18 years and has ridden with its show and drill team.

PA - Third Pennsylvania Judge Rules Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Unconstitutional

Original Article

02/28/2014

By Tara Murtha

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. As Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas Judge David R. Workman wrote in his opinion earlier this month:

Statistics demonstrate that juvenile sex offenders have lower recidivism rates than adult sex offenders. This is due, in part, to the fact that juveniles sexually offend for different reasons than adults. For instance, juveniles lack maturity and impulse control, behaviors which lead to the original offense, but which will not exist once the juvenile reaches adulthood. … During adolescence a juvenile’s brain is amenable to substantial change and develops considerably in areas associated with reasoning and emotion … As a result recidivism rates for juveniles are low and strikingly less than that for adults.

The registration rules for juveniles are the same as they are for adults: For initial registration, they must submit photographs, DNA samples, and fingerprints, along with information verifying all physical details such as hair style, hair color, tattoos, and piercings, as well as descriptions of what car they drive, any family cars they may occasionally drive, the names of schools attended broken down by classroom location, employer’s addresses, and Internet monikers. Following initial registration, they must appear in-person at a pre-approved registration site every 90 days to re-confirm this information and be photographed again. If anything changes, such a new hairstyle, job, or car, they must report the change in-person within three days.

And like adult offenders, juveniles who fall out of compliance are subject to mandatory incarceration for three to five years, with no opportunity to provide a defense.

Aside from the fact that the onerous and expensive system has not been proven effective at making children safer and has been mandated by the federal government, it is very possibly unconstitutional, as the three county-level judges in the state have ruled.

The York County judge cited the work of Dr. Michael Caldwell of the University of Wisconsin, co-author of “An Examination of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act as Applied to Juveniles: Evaluating the Ability to Predict Sexual Recidivism” and an expert in juvenile justice issues, as evidence of the disparity in recidivism rates.

From the York County opinion:

In what Dr. Caldwell describes as “the most extensive” research study to date, a meta-study of over sixty-three studies and over 11,200 children “found an average sexual recidivism rate of 7.09% over an average 5-year follow-up.” These rates are compared with a 13% recidivism rate for adults who commit sexual offenses.

Authors of a Human Rights Watch report point out that the concept of sex offender registration relies on the notion that children must be most protected from strangers. They note that 93 percent of sexually abused children are assaulted by family members, close friends, or acquaintances, according to the justice department.

Juvenile assailants are sometimes acting out a cycle of abuse.

“Many of the kids that we represent were sexually abused themselves and were acting out based on what was done to them,” says Riya Saha Shah, attorney at Philadelphia’s Juvenile Justice Center, the organization representing youth on the registry. “Or it was inappropriate sexual contact between siblings. Some of these kids [are] intellectually disabled. It’s not like that stranger rape or adult-predator child molester situation that you may think of when you think of adults on the sex offender registry.”

For particularly heinous crimes, a juvenile age 14 and older who commits crimes that would be felonies if an adult, or use a weapon in the course of a rape, can be tried in court as an adult in Pennsylvania.

The law requiring registration, known as the Pennsylvania Sex Offender Registration Notification Act (SORNA), has only been in effect since 2012. Like states across the country, Pennsylvania passed SORNA in order to comply with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which was signed into law by President Bush in 2006. States must comply with the act or risk losing federal funding for “essential criminal justice services,” including pre-trial diversion projects for non-violent offenders.

More than 100 Pennsylvania juveniles have been put onto the registry since the law went into effect, according to Shah. Most of them committed acts prior to the law’s implementation, but were forced onto the registry after the law was passed.

The stated goal of SORNA is that “registered sex offenders will perceive that the authorities’ knowledge of their identities, locations, and past offenses reduces the chances that they can avoid detection and apprehension if they reoffend, and this perception may help to discourage them from engaging in further criminal conduct.”

The Human Rights Watch report argues that the real psychological effect on young registrants was profound isolation.

From the report:

They are stigmatized, isolated, often depressed. Many consider suicide, and some succeed. They and their families have experienced harassment and physical violence. They are sometimes shot at, beaten, even murdered; many are repeatedly threatened with violence. Some young people have to post signs stating “sex offender lives here” in the windows of their homes; others have to carry drivers’ licenses with “sex offender” printed on them in bright orange capital letters. Youth sex offenders on the registry are sometimes denied access to education because residency restriction laws prevent them from being in or near a school.

Shah told RH Reality Check that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is scheduled to address the state’s appeal of the York County ruling, the first of the three, in late March, though it could be postponed if the state also appeals the Lancaster and Monroe County rulings and the cases are consolidated.

Meanwhile, Shah is hearing anecdotal reports that district attorneys and judges reluctant to place kids on lifetime registry are avoiding doing so by offering pleas to non-SORNA offenses or downgrading charges—for example, charging a juvenile for indecent assault, as opposed to aggravated sexual assault.

“That still provides them with the necessary treatment and supervision, but it removes that huge imposition and punishment of the registry,” said Shah.

If the state supreme court rules SORNA unconstitutional, then Pennsylvania will no longer be subject to financial penalties for non-compliance. The other states with SORNA legislation are Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming.

Many states haven’t passed a SORNA law because the cost of implementation is higher than the penalty for non-compliance.

See Also:

• Juvenile Law Center Wins Second Ruling Declaring Pennsylvania's Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Requirements Unconstitutional
• Supreme Court throws out parts of Megan's Law

PA - Overloaded, underfunded

Original Article

02/25/2014

In 1994, _____ strangled, sexually assaulted and repeatedly slammed a Montgomery County woman's head into a wall. He served 30 months in jail for his violent crime and was classified as a high-risk sex offender. As such, _____ was required, once released from prison, to regularly report his whereabouts to the state's sex offender registry, a requirement of Megan's Law.

It's good to know that between 96 and 97 percent of Megan's Law offenders comply with its requirements, as reported in our Sunday story. The flip side is that about 3.5 percent don't. That means of the current 15,802 offenders who are entered in the registry, 556 have fallen off the radar screen. In other words, nobody knows where they are. At least nobody in law enforcement.

This list includes _____.

What's worrisome is that more than a year lapsed before state officials asked local police in Tinicum, where _____ last reported residing, to verify that the violent ex-offender still lived there.

This gap between disappearance and detection speaks to flaws in a system that nonetheless is pretty effective. A 97 percent success rate is an A-plus by most anybody's measurement. Still, the system will have failed — utterly and tragically — anybody who might become a victim of one of those fugitive 556.

If you take time to dissect our comprehensive report, one thing is clear: The system is overloaded and undermanned. Indeed, a recent federal study suggests the expansion of offenses requiring registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) has grown the list of offenders beyond current capacity to track all who require tracking.

We're not legal experts, but we question why people convicted of "interfering with custody of a child" or "invasion of privacy" or several other offenses falling under the Tier 1 category of the law would require tracking as sex offenders. It's why Montgomery County state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-12, who introduced the Megan's Law legislation in the Senate, voted against the SORNA expansion.

"Part of the problem is continuing to add people to the list. As a result," Greenleaf said, "we have created a bureaucracy that is not sustainable, and we're not supplying enough money."

Bucks County state Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-6, who introduced Megan's Law legislation in the state House when he was a member there, is less sure about causality but is certain lawmakers need to figure out how to fix the flaws, whatever they are. And he said he plans to start by requesting a report from state police on how the registry is working and how to improve it.

"These people need to be monitored all the time," he said. No argument there. Doubtless, getting the system to function at a 100 percent success rate is a very tough challenge. Failing to do so, however, merely invites tragedy.
- A vast majority of those on the registry DO NOT need 24/7 monitoring as you suggest!

Experts: Sex offenders likely to be re-arrested but not for sex crimes

Original Article

02/23/2014

By Jo Ciavaglia

Most registered sex offenders in the U.S. follow Megan’s Law requirements. After all, they want to avoid felony charges and additional prison time associated with noncompliance, according to legal and criminal experts.

But a high compliance rate does not automatically mean they are following the rules, said one sex offender behavior expert. Research suggests sex offenders, who often face difficulty re-entering the community, are at a high risk for re-arrest, though rarely for another sex offense.

Administrative backlogs with the state Megan’s Law registries, which track most sex offenders, are “very common,” experts said. Mostly the backlog is related to policies lawmakers put in place without providing adequate resources or input from law enforcement, they said.

Adding to the challenge of monitoring sex offenders is often the offenders are part of a mobile population.

The transient nature of sex offenders has been linked to increased absconding and recidivism, and thus decreased community safety, according to Andrew Harris, an associate professor in the School of Criminology and Justice Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and a leading authority on sex offender policy.

Transience also can compromise the ability of law enforcement agents to closely supervise sex offenders without a permanent address.

Pennsylvania is among the states with a high compliance rate among registered sex offenders who appear on its Megan’s Law registry. Compliance rates in the state are typically 96 to 97 percent meaning about only 3 to 4 percent of the more than 15,000 offenders aren’t following monitoring rules. In New Jersey 2.5 percent of the 3,970 registered sex offenders are fugitives, according to police and state statistics.

But among the more than 500 non-compliant sex offenders on Pennsylvania’s registry, fewer than one quarter have active arrest warrants for Megan’s Law violations.

How states determine Megan’s Law compliance varies, but the only accurate measurement is through spot checks and audits, Harris said. A high compliance rate for a state’s sex offender registry doesn’t mean the information is accurate since it’s not unheard of for offenders to provide false addresses, Harris said.

“It’s not uncommon for people to flip out of compliance,” he said. “Just because you show up at a police station and verify your address, doesn't mean you aren't up to something.”

Most non-compliant sex offenders are not willfully avoiding registration, said Harris and Cynthia Calkins, an associate professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. More often it is problems within the system that oversees offenders and a lack of knowledge about the rules.

“(Offenders) simply don’t know. Their lives are unstable. They have to find jobs, housing, they may or may not be able to live with family,” Calkins said. “They don’t always have a stable address and frequent moves may be part and parcel of living in the community.”

Local municipalities had tried to restrict where convicted sex offenders could live, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2011 struck down as unconstitutional such local laws.

Available research on sex offenders who fail to follow registration requirements suggests they are no greater risk for committing another sex crime than the offenders who are compliant, Calkins said. Harris added that studies show only a “very small” number of noncompliant offenders are attempting to evade detection to commit sex crimes.

But among a “relatively large group” of noncompliant sex offenders are the so-called chronic rule breakers whom Harris said research shows have a relatively high risk of recidivism involving other crimes.

Available research on sex offender recidivism rates is mixed but does show it’s typically low for additional sex crimes.

National data suggests that between 12 and 24 percent — or between one and three of every 10 sex offenders — are known to have repeated crimes, according to The Center for Sex Offender Management, a national project supporting state and local jurisdictions in the effective management of sex offenders. But the center points out the rates are commonly underestimated because the crimes often go unreported.

A report released last year by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections shows a little more than half of paroled sex offenders end up re-arrested or back in prison, but rarely for a sex crime.

According to the report, nearly half of state inmates released in 2008 who were convicted of forcible rape were either re-arrested or sent back to prison within three years, compared to nearly 60 percent of all inmates. Among state inmates convicted of statutory rape and “other” sexual offenses, the recidivism rate was 50 percent and 60 percent, respectively, for the same three years.

Those recidivism rates are lower than most other inmates convicted originally of robbery (63 percent), murder or manslaughter (52 percent), drug offenses (57 percent) and burglary (72 percent), according to the 2013 report.

PA - Ex-cop (John Clement Nauroth) gets 120 days house arrest and 18 months probation in sexual assault of an 11-year-old female

Original Article

02/19/2014

By ROBERT BAKER

A former Nicholson police chief was sentenced Wednesday morning (Feb. 12) to 120 days house arrest followed by 18 months probation in the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in 2012.

John Clement Nauroth, 72, preferred to let his attorney do the talking when he appeared before Wyoming County President Judge Russell Shurtleff.

Attorney Paul Ackourey said his client, who was Nicholson’s police chief in the 1970s, had been a good husband and led an exemplary life in the community for decades.

“He led a good life up to that terrible day when something terribly wrong happened,” Ackourey said.

He noted that Nauroth admitted responsibility for indecently touch the young girl.

Court papers say that Nauroth met the girl on March 10, 2012, at his residence and took her to a cabin on his all-terrain vehicle where he asked her to sit on his lap. It is then that he allegedly kissed the youth and assaulted her.

Ackourey said that his client rapidly declined after the incident and suffered serious physical ailments.

“I think the physical toll on her has had collateral impairment on him, but in light of his otherwise good character I would ask you to consider a standard intermediate punishment of probation,” he told the judge.

But, district attorney Jeff Mitchell pleaded with the judge to give Nauroth jail time despite a plea arrangement that only held him accountable for one misdemeanor count of indecent assault when he originally also faced five felony counts of aggravated indecent assault, and corruption of minors.

“The victim was 11 years old and showed incredible strength and courage to get free of the then 70-year-old defendant,” Mitchell said. “She has developed emotional problems and her mother is here in the courtroom today. I am asking for some period of incarceration on behalf of the victim and what she went through.”

In handing down the sentence, Judge Shurtleff also told Nauroth that in addition to the house arrest, probation, and a $2,500 fine, under the Adam Walsh Act he would have to register as a sexual offender for the next 15 years.

Read the rest of the article

PA - Many Pennsylvania sex offenders are due relief from Megan's Law glitch

Original Article

02/17/2014

By BRETT HAMBRIGHT

_____’s newly-found freedom might just be the tip of the iceberg.

_____ was relieved last month from a 6-to-12-year prison sentence due to a flaw in Megan’s Law, a database which includes the registration system for convicted sex offenders.

Now, prosecutors across the state are surveying how many other offenders will benefit from a recent state Supreme Court ruling that deemed part of the registration system “unconstitutional.”

Numerous others could be owed the same relief as _____: dismissal of felony charges.

“I can’t imagine there aren't others out there,” Lancaster County First Assistant District Attorney Christopher Larsen said last week, while perusing local cases.

Not all sex offenders will be getting relief.

The high-court ruling only affects failure to register under Megan’s Law charges, not actual sex crimes.

And only offenders under specific registration requirements that were charged with failure to register between 2005 and December 2012 are eligible.

However, locals say, that could be quite a number of cases.

Larsen estimates “under 50” Lancaster County sex offenders will be eligible for relief, although prosecutors are still sifting through cases for an exact number.

It’s unclear how many of those locals are currently serving prison terms for the charges under review.

“It’s going to be a case-by-case determination,” Larsen said. “If there’s another avenue we can argue [to avoid dropping charges], then we’ll take it.”

That wasn’t an option in _____’s case. Charged in 2010 with two counts of failure to register, the local public defender’s office appealed on _____’s behalf. He was freed on Jan. 27 — and spared of up to 10 more years behind bars.

Lancaster County is home to more than 450 convicted sex offenders who register under Megan’s Law, which is now supplemented by Adam Walsh Act. An estimated 15,700 offenders live in Pennsylvania, according to a state police database.

All are required on at least an annual basis to notify police of their whereabouts.

In December, the state Supreme Court ruled that revisions to Megan’s Law made by lawmakers in 2004 are, essentially, no good. Those revisions included registration rules for certain offenders, the high court ruled.

The opinion opened the door to the review of seven years worth of charges lodged against sex offenders under Megan's Law.

“It can be argued that (Supreme Court decision) creates a complete defense to an ongoing prosecution ... for an (applicable) offense that was committed before December 20, 2012,” Lancaster County Chief Public Defender James Karl said, after his office won the _____ appeal.

It’s unclear what will happen in cases in which an offender has already served a sentence for failure to register between 2005 and 2012.

Prison is often the penalty for those convicted of failing to register. The charge carries a mandatory minimum prison term of between 2 and 7 years, depending on the offender’s prior conviction, according to Karen Mansfield, senior prosecutor in the district attorney’s special victims unit.

The high court stayed its ruling to nullify pre-existing Megan’s Law for 90 days, giving police and prosecutors a head start to deal with the affected cases.

_____, convicted in 2003 of aggravated indecent assault of a minor, will still be required to register his whereabouts under the new system.

And so will others affected by the Supreme Court decision, according to State Rep. Bryan Cutler, a Peach Bottom Republican.

“The registration requirements are still in effect,” Cutler said last week.

Mansfield said the charge of failure to register also will remain.

Cutler and State Rep. Ryan Aument, of Landisville, pointed out that HB 1985 — a revision of law that keeps those registration requirements in place — recently unanimously passed the state House.

Both representatives are optimistic the new registration laws will stick.

Meanwhile, potentially hundreds of offenders statewide are getting a chance to capitalize on the state Supreme Court ruling.

PA - Bishop Jack Wisor with "The Solution" inside the PA State Capital

Bishop Jack Wisor

Video Description:
Bishop Wisor Asks -- Who Is Really To Blame?

What do the 1950's, insane asylums, severely overcrowded prisons, mental health and psych units bursting at their seams and epidemic homelessness in Pennsylvania all have in common? Is there a connection? Is anyone responsible? Who is really to blame?

If those questions intrigue you and pique your curiosity, listen to the man who can connect all the dots for you; the man who has been given the answers through the divine anointing on his life. Bishop Jack Wisor, THE SOLUTION, returned to Harrisburg to speak at the Capitol on Wednesday, November 20th from Noon until 1:00 pm.

Bishop Wisor timed his long-awaited return to coincide with the observance of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Who could possibly be more appropriate to speak -- and with authority and experience -- on the subject of homelessness in Pennsylvania than the minister who heads up the largest faith based homeless ministry in this state?

Bishop Wisor is the founding minister of the First Apostles' Doctrine Church of Brockway and Brookville and the founder and president of the mission field of the church, The Just for Jesus Challenge Homeless Outreach Ministry, the largest faith-based homeless ministry in Pennsylvania.

Now providing a home to an average of 80 men, women and families every night, Bishop Wisor has provided a home to over 1150 guests in the first eleven years of the ministry. Since giving over his personal home in 2003 and being obedient to the call that God placed on his life, Bishop Wisor turns no one away. He has staunchly proclaimed that the church is and must be a refuge and sanctuary for all in need, including the homeless and the poor. The doors must remain open 24/7 and accept all, regardless of who they are, what they have done or where they have come from.

In becoming the voice for those in this state who have no voice -- the least of these -- the very people that Jesus would be spending his time with if He were here today in the flesh -- Bishop Wisor has faced more than his share of opposition from the local community and local and state government leaders. Some of those with prime offices in the Capitol where he will be speaking have tried the hardest with many maneuvers to derail his efforts, close the ministry and shut down what he is doing for all -- including former inmates, former felons, former sex offenders and actually, anyone who is homeless and is an outcast from today's society. We wonder if they have finally figured out that the harder they try to crush what Bishop Wisor is doing, the stronger he gets and the ministry continues to grow by leaps and bounds. They don't have the solution, but they are willing to destroy THE SOLUTION. God will not be mocked!

Bishop Wisor will also be speaking about one of his newest initiatives, establishing only the second satellite operation in Pennsylvania under license with KIDS AGAINST HUNGER®, the international organization whose goal is to eliminate the starvation and effects of starvation that kill between 18,000-25,000 children each day worldwide -- one every 5 seconds. Guests of the ministry will be involved daily in packaging food to be sent around the United States and overseas -- and then eventually following that food to make sure it ends up in the mouths of the children who truly need it.

Bishop Wisor has been presented with an incredible opportunity that could literally be THE SOLUTION for the homeless in this state, the inmates and offenders who have nowhere to go and no one to want them and for the lunatics who have been missing and absent from our sight. Come listen and learn as Bishop Wisor teaches you what no one else has spoken -- because no one else has been shown the vision or given the divine understanding.

Listen to the man who has been called "the tip of the spear", "the light on the hill" and "the voice of this state". Come hear THE SOLUTION and become part of the solution, as Bishop Wisor heralds this cry: "Churches, turn your lights on....they're coming!"

PA - Carbondale sued over Megan's Law ordinance

Justin Taylor

Original Article

02/13/2014

By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER

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 (Facebook) for enforcement of the ordinance, which precluded registered sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of a school, park or other areas where children might gather.

According to the lawsuit, _____ was convicted in 2009 of unlawful communication with a minor, which required him to register as a sex offender. _____ and _____ had lived in Carbondale without incident since 2010. In July 2012, Mr. Taylor contacted the _____' landlord and advised him that _____'s presence violated the city's ordinance and directed him to evict the men.
- So what is the Mayor doing the police' job for?

_____, who served as a magistrate judge in Wyoming County for 25 years before moving to the city, said he advised Mr. Taylor he believed a 2011 state Supreme Court decision in another case proved Carbondale's ordinance was unconstitutional. Mr. Taylor refused to acknowledge the case, saying "his" law took precedence, the suit states.

_____ continued to challenge the ordinance, meeting with Mr. Taylor roughly 12 times. The mayor refused to alter his stance, forcing the men to relocate in September 2012.

Upset he was forced out, _____ attended an Aug. 19 meeting of city council to urge council members to halt enforcement of the sex offender registration ordinance. After he spoke, Mr. Taylor "publicly and recklessly" stated _____ had an extensive criminal record, including burglary, forgery and receiving stolen property. The lawsuit states that information was false. Mr. Taylor later acknowledged the crimes he mentioned were committed by a different _____.
- That is defamation!

The lawsuit, filed by attorney Larry Moran of Scranton, claims Mr. Taylor and the city acted in a "capricious, unreasonable and discriminatory manner" in enforcing the ordinance, which was rescinded sometime after the _____ were forced to move. The lawsuit claims the actions against them were taken in retaliation for speaking out against the ordinance, which is a violation of their First Amendment right to free speech. The suit also seeks damages for violations of the _____' right to due process because they were given no opportunity to challenge the ordinance.

Efforts to reach Mr. Taylor were unsuccessful.

See Also:

• Former resident sues city, says son was targeted