Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner says the state’s Megan’s Law website is plagued with technological problems that are preventing the public from finding and identifying sexual offenders who live and work in their communities, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Wagner said the site is not user-friendly on a number of counts, among them, that it does not allow for inconsistencies or spelling mistakes in searches and posts poor-quality photos of offenders. The site does not have a mapping feature common in other states.
There are roughly 10,000 sexual offenders listed on the state Megan’s Law site, maintained by the Pennsylvania State Police; of those, about 1,000 are so-called “sexually violent predators,” who have committed the most serious category of crimes primarily against children. Among Wagner’s recommendations: post multiple photos that are clear and up-to-date, list all sex offenses for which an offender was convicted, upgrade the site’s search feature to allow more types of searches, include a sex offender mapping tool and email notification so that members of the public can learn when a sex offender moves into their neighborhood.