KINGSTON TWP. - The warning that a man who pleaded guilty to a sex crime against a child had moved in two houses from Lisa Litchkowski's Cliffside Avenue home didn't come from a Web site, flier or police officer. She learned from a neighbor.

Shocked by the discovery and miffed by the limited information she could find about her new neighbor, Litchkowski fashioned a small sign from two wooden stakes and a piece of poster board. It reads: "Attention parents: A child molester has been living in this neighborhood. Please protect your children."

"What are our rights?" she said on Tuesday. "Our kids have to walk to and from the bus stop every school day. The parents have a right to know, too."

The man, Robert John Fletcher, 62, pleaded guilty in Lawrence County Court to two counts of indecent assault of a person less than age 13 and a single count of endangering the welfare of a child, according to court records. He is accused of engaging in sexual misconduct for two years beginning in June 2003 with a 9-year-old girl who was known to him, according to Trooper Janice Wilson of state police in New Castle.

Fletcher was ordered by the court to undergo an assessment through the state's Sexual Offenders Assessment Board before sentencing. That hearing, which is routine in these cases, was postponed until October. The postponement created a lag in the time between Fletcher's guilty plea and when information about the crime is available through the state's Megan's Law Web site.

Litchkowski, who has two children ages 13 to 10, said she decided to circumvent the system and post information about Fletcher. She said she was told by Kingston Township police that she could do so as long as she didn't identify Fletcher by name.

University of Scranton professor Mary Muscari is a member of the Sexual Offenders Assessment Board and has studied parenting and sexual predator laws for 30 years. She said people become angry when information about a person's sex crimes becomes part of a neighborhood rumor mill but isn't readily available by police or through the state Web site.

"There is a process in place. I know it's difficult for people to understand. It's a process we have been using and it does work," Muscari said. "As the person is sentenced, then it's decided what goes on the Web site."

Those who are convicted or plead guilty to sex crimes including rape, unlawful contact with children, or aggravated indecent assault are required to register at least 10 days after release from jail or at the beginning of their sentencing or parole, according to the state's Megan's Law Web site. They are required to notify state police when they change residences.

Fletcher, who was listed as a Kingston resident when charges were filed in Lawrence Township in December, moved to the Cliffside Avenue home near Litchkowski during the summer. Attempts to reach him for this story were unsuccessful.

Between the inception of the state's Megan's Law in 2000 and June, the assessment board has heard 4,869 cases to determine if an offender is considered a sexually violent predator. That distinction requires a violator to register as a sex offender for life. Those deemed merely sex offenders are required to register for up to 10 years.

The boroughs of Wyoming and Dunmore have passed sex offender residency regulations that established a system of fines for registered sex offenders who live within a certain distance of schools, parks or child-care facilities. Despite the nature of the crimes in question, the boroughs' ordinances are ripe for challenge of their constitutionality on the grounds that they have the potential to violate a person's privacy, Muscari said.

"It's a tightrope. It's not any easy thing to walk," she said. "You have to protect children, but you also have to protect people's liberties. It's an emotionally charged issue. It's a very difficult issue when you're dealing with what can happen."

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