Sex offender Web site sparks debate
Local prosecutors say a state police Web site that identifies convicted sex offenders and their hometowns is a valuable tool to make people feel safe, but a civil liberties group counters that the site is intrusive and an invasion of privacy. A recent amendment added to the state’s Megan’s Law allows people to search the Internet to see if a registered sex offender lives near them.
Last week, the state police unveiled the Web site, which contains the names, photographs and other details about 6,981 convicted sex offenders in Pennsylvania.
According to the Web site, 83 registered sex offenders reside in Fayette County, 54 in Greene County and 78 in Washington County. However, the numbers can be slightly deceiving because they reflect both people who live in homes in the counties as well as in state prisons.
Of the 83 registered sex offenders in Fayette County, 11 are inmates at the State Correctional Institution at Fayette in Luzerne Township. Sixteen of 54 registered offenders in Greene County are housed in the State Correctional Institution at Greene in Waynesburg. Washington County has no state prisons.
Before the amendment was added, only the names of 60 sexually violent predators – those considered likely to re-offend – were listed online.
But changes approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Ed Rendell in November expanded the list of people who must register for 10 years to include those convicted of luring a child into a vehicle or of institutional sexual assault.
In addition to names and photos, the site lists the cities and counties where offenders live, the year they were born, their crimes and year of conviction, the towns where they work and if they attend or are employed by a post-high-school educational institution.
Street addresses are listed only for sexually violent predators.
And though representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union claim the Web site invades privacy rights of those who are convicted, police officers and legislative officials say the site will raise awareness of sex crimes and help parents keep their children safe.
Fayette County Assistant District Attorney Jack Heneks, who prosecutes cases involving children, said the purpose of the Web site is to “identify sex offenders and make people feel more secure.”
Marjorie Fox agrees with Heneks.
Browsing the Web site, the Greene County district attorney said she recognized some of the names and faces from previous cases she prosecuted.
Fox said she has no problem with the Web site, adding that all of the information contained on it is public record and was before the site’s creation.
Before the amendment was added to Megan’s Law, Heneks said, convicted sexual offenders were required only to notify local and state police departments of their addresses. The public was not notified that there was a convicted sexual offender in their neighborhood, he said.
“People don’t always realize the person next door might be a registered sex offender,” Fox said, adding that the new Web site will create more awareness.
And that increased awareness of sex crimes, according to Fox, is always a good thing.
However, Larry Frankel, legislative director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said names, photographs and other details about convicted sex offenders should not be put on the Internet, because doing so violates the offender’s right to privacy.
Frankel said authorities have no proof that the Web site will keep more children from becoming victims.
“Legislators keep tinkering with Megan’s Law,” he said. “They haven’t done any studies to show this Web site will keep families safe.”
Frankel said studies need to be conducted that show both the positives and negatives of publicizing the personal information of convicted sex offenders. The studies, he said, should have been done before the Megan’s Law Web site was unveiled.
Heneks said sexual offenders are protected by the law, and people can’t harass them or take reprisal.
State police said information on the site is intended for community safety purposes only and should not be used to threaten, intimidate or harass.
“Knowing whether a person in your community is a registered sex offender could help you protect yourself and your family members,” state police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller told the Associated Press.
Megan’s Law is named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl raped and killed in 1994 by a twice-convicted sex offender who lived near her home.
To access the Megan’s Law Web site, visit www.psp.state.pa.us.
Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this story.