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Corbett to sign stricter sex-offender bill

Legislation to toughen Pennsylvania's sex offender laws will be signed by Gov. Tom Corbett in Harrisburg this morning.

Legislation to toughen Pennsylvania's sex offender laws will be signed by Gov. Tom Corbett in Harrisburg this morning.

By expanding reporting requirements for convicted sex offenders, Pennsylvania will become the 15th state in compliance with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. That federal law was named for the boy whose aduction and murder in 1981 led his father, John, to become the longtime host of the Fox TV show America's Most Wanted.

The connection is why the legislation, which toughens the state's "Megan's Law," has been called "the Adam Walsh Bill."

Senate Bill 1183 will close loopholes by requiring registration by sex offenders who are homeless or who moved to Pennsylvania from another state.

Other provisions require the updating of phone numbers and email addresses, as well as notifying authorities of travel plans.

Registration requirements include not only criminal history, photographs, fingerprints and palm prints, but a DNA sample, and information about ownership of any vehicles, including aircraft and watercraft.

The signing was scheduled for 11 a.m. in the governor's reception room in the Main Capitol Building.

As of late July, Delaware, but not New Jersey, was among the states meeting the Walsh requirements, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The others were Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming.