DERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A local lawmaker is raising concerns about the release process of former juvenile sex offenders into the community.
State Representative Eric Nelson (R) told Channel 11 he’s sounding the alarm about a program that puts, in his words, some of the most dangerous sex offenders back into the Westmoreland County community anonymously.
“These youth offenders…they may openly state, ‘I will rape again.’ If the judge releases them, they are out in the community," Nelson said.
Nelson learned that Torrance State Hospital, a mental health facility in Derry Township, is releasing youth sex offenders into the local area by a judge’s order.
“Torrance is not releasing these individuals. Judges are releasing them, whether Torrance recommends it or not,” Nelson said.
According to Nelson, these people go from a very controlled environment at Torrance to only 6 in-person visits a month for a year and a government-issued cell phone with Life360 monitoring.
After that, Nelson says they’re released with no oversight.
He says there’s also a concerning gap in the law.
“Any youth violent sex offender before 2012 does not show up on Megan’s Law,” Nelson said.
That means any offender, now released as an adult, would not appear on Megan’s Law list.
According to Torrance, 15 men have been released in the last 14-15 years.
But Nelson says 14 men are set to be released within the next year.
Nelson is now proposing legislation to make sure all individuals released are named.
He is working along with the hospital and other officials; they’re working to lengthen the oversight.
“We are really pushing and working with Torrance to create a structured step-down. So you go from a lot of control to a limited amount of freedom to a greater amount of freedom, just to prevent somebody from becoming uncontrolled,” Nelson said.
The Department of Human Services, which oversees the hospital, says they notify local law enforcement when a person is released, but because of the gap in Megan’s Law before 2012.
“Any additional notifications to members of the community beyond what is statutorily required would violate HIPAA privacy protections,” the DHS said in a statement.
That statement goes on to say there are currently 61 people in the youth sex offender treatment program at Torrance. It’s not clear how many people have reoffended after their release.
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