Laws that would toughen penalties for anyone convicted of
molesting a child have passed the Pennsylvania Senate and are up
for consideration in the House, and local legislators are backing
them 100 percent.

Measures to toughen the requirements of Megan’s Law and a
version of Jessica’s Law were approved last week in the Senate,
explained state Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, on Monday.

“I wanted to see this pushed through the legislature before the
end of the fiscal year,” Scarnati said.

The bill known as Jessica’s Law requires a mandatory minimum
sentencing of 25 years for adult sexually violent predators who
molest children under the age of 12. The predators will be subject
to monitoring by a Global Positioning System technology for the
rest of their lives.

If convicted a second time, they will serve a 50-year minimum
sentence.

The change approved in the Senate for Megan’s Law would require
all sexual offenders to be listed on the Megan’s Law Web site by
name and address. Currently, the only offenders whose addresses are
listed are the ones the court has deemed sexually violent
predators.

“I cannot stress enough the importance of both pieces of
legislation,” Scarnati said. “Keeping our communities safe is and
must continue to be a top priority.”

Both pieces of legislation are now in the House of
Representatives, where state Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint,
said he is pushing for their passage.

“I’m a strong supporter of both pieces of legislation,” Causer
said, explaining the measures are currently being considered by the
House Judiciary Committee. “My hope is that they’ll be moving
pretty fast.”

The end of the fiscal year is midnight Friday, and the
Legislature is working to pass the state budget by then, as well as
several additional pieces of legislation.

Speaking of the two bills, Causer said, “We have to get them to
the governor’s desk for his signature. We have to send a strong
message that we’re not going to put up with this.

“Anyone who commits these heinous acts against children needs to
be locked up,” he said. “I believe these people cannot be
reformed.

“I think it is absolutely essential that we do have mandatory
minimum sentencing for these predators,” Causer said. He also
advocated the GPS monitoring called for in the bill, saying, “We
need to know where these folks are if they are not in jail.

“It’s essential that we enact this legislation. We’ve been
pushing for this stronger sentencing,” Causer said. “I think we’re
way overdue to pass this. We have to pass this to say ‘we’re not
going to put up with this.'”

While acknowledging that children fall victim to sex offenders
all across the state, Causer pointed out that McKean County has a
higher-than-normal number.

“We have a disproportionately high number of these cases,” he
said. Earlier this year, Duane Wolfe, director of McKean County
Children and Youth Services, told The Era that McKean County has
been number one in the state, by ratio, in child abuse cases for at
least three years.

“We’re going to send a strong message that we’re not going to
put up with this,” Causer reiterated. “Any people who would do such
things to children are going to be locked up.”

Causer said he remains hopeful that both pieces of legislation
can be passed by the House this week before the session ends.

Jessica’s Law is named after 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford who was
kidnapped, raped and killed by a sexual offender in Florida last
year.

Megan’s Law is named after Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey
girl who was raped and killed by a neighbor who was a convicted sex
offender.