Critical information about sex offenders moving into the Pittsburgh area will be listed online, following a unanimous Allegheny County Council vote May 7. The listing will be added to Allegheny's real estate assessment link.
The county hadn't done anything like it through the day of the vote, according to the Associated Press, while the state began listing photos and addresses of sexually violent criminals online last October. But the county council wanted to make it easier for residents to find localized convicted sex offenders, the AP said.
As it was, very few such predators were listed in other Pennsylvania counties, the AP added, largely because the state defines "sexually violent predators" narrowly and also because most who fit the designation are still in prison. State law only requires a listing for a sex offender if he or she is considered violent - and it takes a judge's order to get that designation, the AP said.
