Siptroth is a co-sponsor of legislation (H.B. 1803) that would tighten Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law restrictions on convicted child sex offenders. A petition drive on his Web site allows residents to urge the General Assembly to act promptly and approve strengthening law enforcement’s ability to crack down on child sexual predators.

Residents can access the petition at www.pahouse.com/Siptroth.

Siptroth said a loophole in the Pennsylvania Crimes Code that allows people convicted of soliciting minors on the Internet to dodge the requirements of Megan’s Law would be corrected by the legislation.

In addition, the measure would:

• Prohibit a person who commits a sexual offense against a victim who is under 13 from living within 2,500 feet of any public, private or parochial K-6 school, or any licensed day-care center, public park or public swimming pool. Currently, Pennsylvania has no proximity requirement for registered sex offenders.

• Require a person convicted of a sexual offense against a minor to wear a 24-hour-a-day electronic monitor when on probation or supervised release.

• Allow the district attorney of the county where a released child sexual offender plans to live to testify at the offender’s parole board hearing.

• Empower state police to run twice-annual random verification of the addresses of sexually violent predators and confirm their compliance with counseling requirements. The random checks would supplement quarterly scheduled appointments.

“The Internet should not be a safe haven for child predators to operate,” Siptroth said. “I anticipate a lot of positive feedback from residents on this legislation and wanted to give them the opportunity to sign the petition showing their support.”

Siptroth said the state Attorney General’s Office recently released the results of an audit that found that, over 10 years, Pennsylvania lost track of more than 300 child sex offenders, which illustrates the need to update and strengthen the current law.

Siptroth is also the prime sponsor of a bill (H.B. 1016) which would provide for increased penalties for sexual predators.