A Bradford woman is asking the state’s highest court to release her from obligations of Megan’s Law after a law change extended her registration requirement from 10 years to her lifetime.
Tanya Marie Brown, 42, of Jackson Avenue, is appealing an order from the state Superior Court, which was entered July 7.
On July 27, 2004, Brown was sentenced to three months to one year of house arrest and two years of probation on charges of incest, endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of minors and false reports to law enforcement. She had pleaded guilty to the charges, which indicated she had sexual contact with a male juvenile who was 16 at the time.
Brown was sentenced to a 10-year registration requirement upon her release from house arrest.
On Dec. 20, 2012, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) was passed in Pennsylvania. Under the new law, incest was now considered a Tier 3 sex offense, with a lifetime registration requirement, according to a memorandum in the case from retired Senior Superior Court Judge Eugene Strassburger.
On July 20, 2016, Brown sent a letter to McKean County Court seeking her removal from Megan’s Law requirements, according to court records.
A hearing was scheduled, testimony was given and Senior Judge William Morgan agreed to release her from the requirements. He found that she had “specifically bargained for a ten-year term of Megan’s Law registration and, as such, did not have to comply with the lifetime registration imposed by SORNA,” the memorandum read.
The McKean County district attorney’s office filed an appeal with the state Superior Court. A three-judge panel — Strassburger, Judge Judith Ference Olson and Judge Geoffrey Moulton — agreed and reinstated the lifetime registration requirement for Brown.
The appellate court judges said the length of the registration requirement was not part of Brown’s plea agreement. The guilty plea colloquy “indicated she would have to register for ‘at least’ ten years,” the memorandum read. And the court transcripts noted only that Brown must comply with registration requirements, and were “silent as to the length” of the registration period.
Brown, now represented by attorney Lea Bickerton of Pittsburgh, has filed a petition for allowance of appeal with the state Supreme Court. No decision had been made in the case as of Tuesday afternoon.
