Rick Taylor's Planned Legislation on PA's Megan's Law

State Rep. Rick Taylor (D-151) is preparing legislation to close some of the loopholes in Pennsylvania's Megan's Law. Some of the items on his checklist are:

Under Taylor's enhanced Megan's Law measure, a sexually violent predator whose victim was under 13 years old at the time of the crime would be prohibited from living within 2,500 feet of a public, private or parochial school with students through elementary school age, as well as near public parks, playgrounds and swimming pools.

Also, for the entire period people convicted of a sexual offense against a minor are on probation or supervised release, they would have to wear an electronic tracking device.

When a sexual predator comes before a parole board hearing, Taylor's proposal would allow the district attorney from the county where he plans to reside to address the panel.

In addition to already existing quarterly verification, twice a year the state police would randomly verify the addresses of sexually violent predators as well as their compliance with counseling requirements. A verification form that cannot be forwarded would be delivered to the individual's last reported residence. Within 10 days the sexually violent predator would have to appear at a specified registration site, complete a verification form and be photographed.

"This would ensure that the convicted predator is consistently tracked and that appearance changes are noted to reflect such things as facial hair, graying hair and weight change," said Taylor.

"It doesn't help police if the last photo of a child predator is that of a thin man with a full head of hair and a mustache when he’s now bald, bearded and overweight."

Yet another component of Taylor's bill is directed at the Internet: it would make it a criminal offense for a person to solicit a child online for sex. Under current law, people cannot be arrested for propositioning a child online; they can only be collared when they show up to meet their intended victim. Taylor cited this week's arrest by Horsham Police of a Blue Bell man who allegedly solicited sex from a 13-year-old girl. Before making the arrest, police had to wait for the suspect to show up at a rendezvous site where he was to have met the teen.

"Under my bill, police could have acted immediately on the Internet solicitation alone without having to wait and go through the additional steps to arrest the suspect after he had actually shown up expecting to meet the girl," Taylor said.

Taylor said he is working to pull together bipartisan support such as that achieved in July when the House overwhelmingly approved his legislation that would prevent Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base from becoming a commercial passenger or cargo airport when it closes as a federal air base in 2011.

"The support from my colleagues in the region was important, and I'm working to recruit a similar coalition and fast-track this Megan's Law enhancement" Taylor added.