11 Investigates: Tracking transient sex offenders

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — The crime sent shockwaves through the community. A 93-year-old woman was followed home and assaulted in mid-December. The man arrested for the crime was homeless and on the state’s sex offender registry.

Pittsburgh police say Ronny Hough, 39, followed the elderly woman downtown onto a bus, broke into her home in Troy Hill, and then beat and raped her. She called 911 when he allegedly fell asleep after the attack.

Hough was found guilty by a jury of indecent assault of a child under the age of 13 in 2018. He had to register as a tier three sex offender after he was released.

Megan’s Law requires tier three offenders, the most serious, to report in person at an approved registration site every three months or four times a year. Transient offenders are required to appear more frequently, once a month. Offenders are photographed and must provide their current address. Transient offenders provide the address of a shelter they are living in or the general vicinity where they are staying.

At the time of his arrest in December, Hough was in compliance and had last appeared for a mandatory check-in three weeks prior.

Chalon Young is a criminal defense attorney and professor of practice at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

“I think the law is trying to balance notification and community awareness with the rights of the offender,” Young said. “The biggest flaw in our sex offender registry is, although it tells us where people are, where they live, it doesn’t tell us where they’re going to go.”

“Is that system foolproof in any way?” investigative reporter Jatara McGee asked.

“Not at all,” Young said. “Compliance with the registry is entirely up to the offender… It is an honor system.”

As of this week, there are roughly 1,800 registered sex offenders in Allegheny County. Around 40 of them or 2% are transient. 11 Investigates checked the registry, and nearly all of the transient offenders are in compliance.

Young acknowledged it is common for offenders to stop complying with required checks, which may result in a warrant for their arrest.

“There are multiple offenders who simply abscond, don’t change, don’t report their changes in address,” Young said.

But she added that transient offenders currently have a higher rate of compliance than the broader group.

Pennsylvania State Police are responsible for maintaining the Megan’s Law registry. The agency declined 11 Investigates’ requests for an interview.

Councilman Anthony Coghill, who has pushed several initiatives to address homelessness in the city, including the introduction of tiny homes, said he is most concerned by unaddressed mental illness among unhoused individuals.

“We want to take it in our hands. It is our problem. It is mostly in the city of Pittsburgh,” Coghill said. “I think there needs to be a commitment from the administration and we have yet to see that.”

In an interview Tuesday, Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak said the Gainey administration is committed. He believes those efforts begin with expanding access to emergency and transitional housing.

“The key component for us over the past three years has been growing the supply of emergency shelter space and transitional housing to be able to move folks through that system back into a stable environment. And once we have them in one of those situations where we’re able to provide services, we’re also able to provide better protection from predators,” Pawlak said.

Safety concerns are heightened within settings designed to assist homeless men, women and children.

Jerrel Gilliam is the executive director of Light of Life Rescue Mission.

“The few people that are out there that are violent, that are doing these heinous crimes, they do not represent the overwhelming majority,” Gilliam said.

The organization helped approximately 3,000 unhoused people last year alone.

“Everything that we do is based on wanting to love people well. And one of the most important things about loving people well is creating a safe environment. So safety is always at the top of all of our concerns,” Gilliam said.

Light of Life does not allow tier three sex offenders in its programs and shelters, and Gilliam said tier one and two offenders are only allowed on a case-by-case basis.

“We always have to balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the community. And so in this case, our community, the needs of the community, outweigh the individual,” Gilliam said.

The organization also requires everyone to show ID and have their criminal backgrounds checked.

“Because we have women and children in different sites, we have to make sure that everyone here is cleared,” Gilliam said.

When it comes to the rules of the sex offender registry and keeping track of offenders, legal experts say it would be complicated to expand surveillance. Young said the state does not have the manpower to perform more regular checks of offenders. She also noted that tracking devices like ankle monitors would be expensive, require access to electricity for charging purposes and would likely be considered overly punitive by attorneys who would fight those kinds of proposals in court.

“There is no easy solution to this. The problem lies within the criminal justice system, being a reactive system,” Young said.

“The vast majority of people who commit sex crimes are going to be released from prison someday, so they’re re-entering society. There’s got to be some sort of reform, something put in place, some type of intensive therapy to attempt to rehabilitate those who can be rehabilitated, and I don’t think that we focus enough on that.”

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