Convicted sex offender charged in assault of child
Neighbors didn’t
know he was living in the area
adapted from Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice
May 4, 2006
 A convicted sexual offender accused of molesting a 4-year-old girl
pleaded guilty to a similar crime in five years ago and received a
minimum sentence of one month imprisonment with immediate work release,
court records show.
The 52-year-old man was arrested a day after the alleged assault in
a backyard, and investigators say they soon determined he had failed
to register his new address with police as per the requirements of
the state’s Megan’s Law.
But even if he had registered his address, his neighbors still wouldn’t
have known he was a sex offender. Though his name, charges and city
of residence were listed on the Megan’s Law Web site for anyone
with a computer to peruse, he was the type of sexual offender — like
most — that could move to an area without notification of neighbors.
Only 120 of Pennsylvania’s 8,246 active sexual offenders meet
the criteria for community notification, according to an unrelated
press release sent by the state police.
Now, neighbors say they’re concerned a sex offender slipped
into their neighborhood without their knowledge and the parents of
the first victim are furious he was able to allegedly strike again,
saying his sentence was too soft.
“All I can say, it’s very disturbing someone like that
was living here. I don’t know how they could let someone like
that move into the neighborhood and not notify us,” said a woman
who has lived in the neighborhood for 24 years.
The man, according to police, sexually abused the minor after he asked
her to play games, such as “husband and wife.” The girl’s
baby-sitter told police she let the girl play in a fenced yard by herself
for 10 to 15 minutes and when she came outside she saw her up on a
neighbor’s porch with the man and became suspicious, police said.
Police say the girl claimed he had molested her before.
The parents of the first victim, a then-4-year-old girl who was abused
by the man in a similar fashion six years ago, said that hearing about
the man’s recent arrest has made them relive their daughter’s
assault in horror.
“I’m mad. He got off easy and probably felt he could do
it again and not get caught,” said the first victim’s mother.
The woman said she feels horrible for the latest victim and places
blame, in large part, on a former a county judge who sentenced the
man to immediate work release instead of jail on three counts of indecent
assault of a minor. It’s unknown how long the man remained in
work release on his one-month to 23-month sentence.
The police captain said the man has been illegally living in his current
neighborhood for a “considerable amount of time” and he
was supposed to be staying at another location.
Even if the man had notified police of his move, police would not
have had to notify his neighbors.
He was listed as a “sexual offender” and only people who
are labeled as “sexually violent predators,” only 120 out
of 8,246 offenders in the state, are made public when they move into
a an area, according to the state police’s Megan’s Law
Web site.
The classification is determined by the offense for which a person
is convicted.
His conviction of indecent assault of a minor under 13 years of age
is a Tier 1 offense labeling him as a “sexual offender,” according
to the site. He’s now charged with three counts of aggravated
indecent assault. A conviction on that charge would classify him as
a “sexually violent predator,” the site says.
Eleven crimes would classify someone as a sexual offender and 10 crimes
for the harsher classification.
The man is locked up on $100,000 cash bail in the county correctional
facility.
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