State Police: Sex offender listing park as home an 'enhancement'

Steven Sherlock, 30, a violent sexual predator, who is homeless and whose address under Megan's Law is Naylor's Run Park in Upper Darby.
Steven Sherlock, 30, a violent sexual predator, who is homeless and whose address under Megan's Law is Naylor's Run Park in Upper Darby.
BY STEPHANIE FARR, Daily News Staff Writer
Posted: August 22, 2012

A STATE POLICE spokesman calls the fact that a sexually violent predator was able to register his address as a suburban park "an enhancement to public safety."

Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood was furious when he was notified last week that Steven Sherlock, 30, a violent sexual predator, had listed his address as Naylor's Run Park, an Upper Darby community park popular with children.

But Lt. Todd Harman, commander of the Megan's Law division of the State Police, said a law passed in February requires homeless sexual offenders in Pennsylvania to list a location they frequent if they don't have an address. They also must check in with police every 30 days.

"If he were to move under the bridge down the road he'd have to list the Market Street Bridge as his address," Harman said.

Only offenders who first identify as homeless may identify their address as a public space, he said.

"Nobody from the State Police told him he could live there; it's just where he lives," he said.

No one is allowed in Naylor's Run Park after dark, and Sherlock will be arrested if he's there after sunset, Chitwood said.

Of the 12,000 sexual offenders required to register under Megan's Law in Pennsylvania, 35 identify as homeless, Harman said. Of those, six live in Philly.

Contact Stephanie Farr at farrs@phillynews.com or 215-854-4225. Follow her on Twitter @FarFarrAway. Read her blog at philly.com/dailydelco.

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