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The Indiana County District Attorney's Office plans an appeal to Pennsylvania Supreme Court a recent court ruling removing the label of "sexually violent predator" from a West Wheatfield Township man who pleaded guilty to having sex with a 10-year-old boy two years ago.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Handler said he plans to appeal a May 20 state Superior Court ruling that overturns Judge Gregory A. Olson's decision that Frank Lee Krouse, now 26, be labelled a sexually violent predator under the state's two-year-old Megan's Law II.

Under the requirements of the law, Krouse, now 26, would have had to register his address with Pennsylvania State Police four times a year for the rest of his life. The law requires police notification of neighbors and community entities such as schools and day care centers when an offender moves into the neighborhood.

Krouse pleaded guilty on July 17, 2000, to indecent assault for having oral sex with a 10-year-old boy in the summer of 1999. He was sentenced to nine to 23 months in jail; fined $500, plus $146 in costs; and placed on three years' probation. He pleaded guilty a few days after Megan's Law II was enacted by the state Legislature.

According to court records, the sexual assault took place in a home of one of Krouse's relatives who had given the unemployed landscaper a place to stay.

"We disagree with the Superior Court ruling and plan to appeal it to the state Supreme Court," Handler said.

Megan's Law was enacted in 1996 in response to the murder of Megan Kanka. The New Jersey girl was raped and killed in 1994 by a convicted rapist in her neighborhood whose criminal history was unknown to her parents.

The law was deemed unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court because it put the burden on the defendant to prove that he isn't a "sexually violent predator." An updated law, known as Megan's Law II, was enacted.

There are two classes of offenders defined by the law. A "sexual offender" is a person convicted of a sexually violent offense; that person is required to register his or her address with state police. A "sexually violent predator" is a sexual offender who is found to possess a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes him (or her) likely to engage in predatory, violent offenses.

A sexually violent predator is required to register with the state police four times a year for the rest of his life, and the community must be notified when he moves into a neighborhood.

Handler believes the law is needed, and says it helps to safeguard families.

"It gives people a chance to get information within their own communities (about) other people who may live there who have a history and who were convicted of sexual offenses on minors. That information is valuable," he said.

Krouse was the first person — and only person to date in Indiana County — labelled a sexually violent predator.

Sergeant Kim Hawkins of the state police's Megan's Law division in Harrisburg said only three people among the 5,500 or so registered sexual offenders in Pennsylvania have been designated as sexually violent predators and are mandated to make the more stringent quarterly reports to state police. One of those individuals currently is lodged in the Butler County Jail; another is in Halifax, Dauphin County, and the third in Wilkes Barre.

In addition, Hawkins said, 157 people classified as sexual predators by out-of-state jurisdictions have moved to Pennsylvania. Those people also are required to register with state or local police.

The state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board tracks and provides information to courts regarding the SVP designations. It has received 1,115 court-ordered requests for assessments since the amended law was enacted in July 2000.

In Allegheny County, there have been 60 court-ordered assessments; in Westmoreland, 53. Fayette County had 20 assessment requests and Indiana and Washington counties each had 12.

In overturning the Krouse designation last month, Superior Court Judge Justin Johnson wrote in the majority opinion that the district attorney's office "did not present clear and convincing evidence" establishing that Krouse meets the criteria for a sexually violent predator. The appellate court did uphold Krouse's guilty plea and sentence after the conviction.

The appellate court said that after Krouse pleaded guilty, Olson ordered an assessment of Krouse by the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, as required by law, to determine whether Krouse should be classified as a sexually violent predator.

William G. Allenbaugh II, a licensed psychologist and an assessment board member, reported to Olson that Krouse met the criteria for a sexually violent predator under the law. Allenbaugh based his opinion on written evaluations of Krouse by Indiana County authorities as he made his way through the legal system.

Krouse subsequently challenged the constitutionality of the sexually violent predator label. Olson heard arguments in December 2000 and denied the motion.

In March 2001, Olson held another hearing, where an expert for Krouse testified he did not fit the criteria of a predator. Additionally, the Superior Court said Olson relied on the 2001 testimony of Allenbaugh, "who had not interviewed Krouse, (but) testified that Krouse should be adjudicated a sexual violent predator."

The court said that under the updated Megan's Law II, the state's highest appellate court said the sexual violent predator determination must guarantee the defendant the "full panoply of the relevant protections which due process guarantees."

The amended law required that an assessment of the individual should consider a number of criteria. Those include whether the offense involved multiple victims, the nature of the sexual contact with the victim, the individual's relationship with the victim, the victim's age, whether the offense included a display of unusual cruelty, and the individual's prior criminal record.

The court also noted that the Krouse's conviction was his first sexual offense. His prior criminal history involved only a conviction for driving under the influence and admitted illegal drug usage.

"Our reversal of the SVP designation does not affect Krouse's sentence for the underlying conviction of indecent assault. Our conclusion in this case should not suggest that elements of an SVP designation cannot be met," the court said.

"Unless the commonwealth proves all the elements by clear and convincing evidence, we cannot affirm the SVP (sexually violent predator) designation," Johnson said in the ruling.

This year, the U.S. Supreme Court also has decided to weigh in on the constitutionality of Megan's Law provisions that have been enacted in all 50 states. On May 21, the nation's highest court announced it will rule on Connecticut's battle to allow the individual names, addresses and photographs of sex offenders to be posted on the Internet.

Two men, whose names are being withheld under federal court rulings, have argued since 1999 that they are not dangerous to the community and would be unfairly judged if the state posts personal data about them without first holding a hearing.

In February, the Supreme Court said it would hear Alaska's appeal of a court ruling overturning that state's practice of publicizing a sex offender's personal data on the Internet.

In the Alaska case, appellate courts have ruled that state's law was unconstitutional because it amounted to a form of extra punishment for those offenders who were convicted of their crimes before Megan's Law was passed in 1994.

The nation's highest court has set oral arguments on those cases for this fall and is expected to rule in the summer of 2003.

Sergeant Hawkins said Pennsylvania's law has no mandated provision for Internet identification of individual sexual offenders, so they are not posted.

"This information is currently not available on the Internet," he said.

If a sexual violent predator should move into a neighborhood, state police or local police deliver fliers containing a photograph and description of the offender and a description of his crime. Neighbors who live within 250 feet of the offender receive the fliers. In rural areas, the notifications are delivered to 25 of the offender's most immediate neighbors, Hawkins said.

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