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Understanding Megan's Law For Sexual Offenders

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Nov 5, 2009 10:26 pm US/Eastern

Understanding Megan's Law For Sexual Offenders

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― In the wake of two high-profile cases involving convicted sex offenders in California and Ohio, many people are asking how exactly sex offenders are monitored and how often.

The Pennsylvania Megan's Law website allows users to search for offenders under county, municipality, city, zip code, name or alias.

There are 14 offenses set by the state, including rape, kidnapping and indecent assault that would require an offender to be listed on the site.

"Megan's Law says that you will report your address, your place of employment and any changes in either of those statuses," Sgt. Larry Scirotto of the Pittsburgh Police Sex Assault and Family Crisis Division, said.

He says if they don't register, a warrant will be issued for their arrest.

"Within the City of Pittsburgh we have 423 registered sex offenders. Of those 423, 12 of them are classified as sexual violent predators," Scirotto explained. "So with a sexual violent predator, the policy of our office is to check those individuals quarterly and that's when we show up at their place of employment, their place of residency."

People living in a Cleveland neighborhood say that did not happen. Police have found at least 11 bodies in the home of Anthony Sowell, a convicted sex offender who spent 15 years in prison for rape.

He was released in 1989 and police believe that is when he began killing women.

"He was considered a Tier Three offender which would be a violent predator in the city of Pittsburgh or in the state of Pennsylvania so we would take probation and parole, we would go to his house, we would do that quarterly, so every three months we would check his residence," Scirotto said. "We would go inside his residence to ensure that he was following all the stipulations of probation and parole."

There are 12 such violent sex offenders registered in the City of Pittsburgh. Scirotto says Megan's Law isn't foolproof but it certainly makes sure that sex offenders are not anonymous in their communities and that they are abiding by the rules.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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