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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A former Dallas Township man will voluntarily register his address under the state&#8217;s Megan&#8217;s Law but he will have to wait to determine if he is statutorily required to do so.</p><p>Ernest W. Chapman, 65, was released Sept. 1 after serving the maximum sentence of 24 years in state prison for admitting to raping a teenage girl in Hanover Township and sexually assaulting four girls in the Back Mountain for a period of years in the early to mid 1990s.</p><p>At issue is whether Chapman must register his address with state police under the Sexual Offenders Registration and Notification Act, known as SORNA, which became effective in Pennsylvania on April 21, 1996, three days before he was sentenced.</p><p>When Chapman pleaded guilty in March 1996, the state&#8217;s Megan&#8217;s Law was not yet on the books.</p><p>Chapman and his lawyers, Robert Michael Buttner and Jonathan Blum, filed an application under the state&#8217;s Post Conviction Relief Act contesting any mandate that forces him to register his address with state police. They argue that the SORNA requirements add an undue secondary punishment in violation of Chapman&#8217;s constitutional rights.</p><p>On Monday, Chapman and Buttner appeared before Luzerne County Judge Fred Pierantoni III on the status of the case.</p><p>Pierantoni continued the hearing due to a pending appeal in the state Supreme Court regarding a Chester County case questioning the constitutionality of SORNA.</p><p>Assistant District Attorney James L. McMonagle advised Pierantoni that it appears the Supreme Court is not close to rendering a decision in the Chester County case.</p><p>Prosecutors in Chester County filed an appeal with the Supreme Court in July 2018 over a judge&#8217;s decision that a man, who was convicted of raping a sleeping woman, did not have to register as a sex offender. The Chester County judge found that SORNA violated the fundamental right to reputation as well as violating the convicted man&#8217;s right to due process.</p><p>Buttner told Pierantoni that Chapman will register his address with state police to comply with the current law.</p><p>Pierantoni will revisit Chapman&#8217;s case on Dec. 11 in hopes the Supreme Court will render a decision by then.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_Ernest-Chapman-DOC-05092019.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Chapman</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_Ernest-Chapman-DOC-05092019.jpg</photo0><caption0>Chapman</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ed Lewis</p><p>elewis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Dallas Township man will register under Megan’s Law