State takes steps to fix sex offender registry problem that could have put children at risk

A major update in a Channel 11 investigation after the state took steps to fix a problem that could've put children and families at risk.

"It's unfair. They hear that and they automatically think the worst," a convicted sex offender named Tony told Channel 11 in September.

He was sentenced to be on the registry for life.

"It's still not fair. You did your time, why should you have to register at all?" he said.

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The Pennsylvania Supreme Court asked that question too.

In July, justices ruled the State Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, or SORNA, violated the Pennsylvania Constitution because it punished sex offenders instead of just monitoring them.

That meant any of the 17,000 people charged in Pennsylvania before 2012 when the act went into effect could've been removed from the sex offender list.

When 11 Investigates started looking into this weeks ago, we went straight to lawmakers.

"So many people are at risk that we have to take action," Sen. Guy Reschenthaler (R) Bethel Park. "This is not exactly a controversial issue, this is about protecting Pennsylvanians from dangerous sexual offenders. We have got to do something."

Wednesday, state legislators began that process.

The House unanimously approved an amendment to SORNA that would keep the sex offender registry intact.

The bill now goes to the Senate, which is expected to vote on it by the end of the year and send it to Governor Tom Wolf.

"The public has a right to know if there's a sex offender living next door," Reschenthaler said.

Cox Media Group