PITTSBURGH -- Records indicate that a man charged with grabbing a girl off the street and raping her in Pittsburgh's Greenfield section last week was convicted decades ago of rape in Oklahoma.
But Team 4's Jim Parsons reported that Pittsburgh police apparently knew nothing about Clyde Haidle Jr.'s previous conviction and that Haidle wasn't required to register as a sex offender in Oklahoma or in Pennsylvania, because his out-of-state conviction is 22 years old.
Watch Jim's Report"He was convicted in 1987. Therefore, he would have no obligation to report to Oklahoma as a sex offender, or if he intended to leave Oklahoma and travel to Pennsylvania," said Lt. Doug Grimes, who heads up the Megan's Law division of the Pennsylvania State Police in Harrisburg.
Haidle, 46, was convicted Oct. 27, 1987, of rape, attempted rape, sodomy, robbery with a dangerous weapon and escape from a county jail. He served a 12-year prison sentence in Oklahoma and was released Aug. 13, 1999, with no probation or parole.
Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie told Team 4 that Oklahoma's Megan's Law requires a sex offender to register only if he or she was convicted after Nov. 1, 1989.
Pennsylvania State Police spokesman Jack Lewis told Team 4 he believes if Oklahoma didn't require Haidle to register in that state, then Pennsylvania would not require him to report as a sex offender when he moved here.
Link: Find Sex Offenders In Your Neighborhood On Pa.'s Megan's Law Web SiteBecause the law has changed over the years, Grimes said it's still unclear whether Haidle should have registered in Pennsylvania when he arrived here 10 years ago. But even if that was the case, the only way Haidle would have known is if he had been released on probation or parole, which he was not.
"He would have been given some direction from authorities as to what he needed to do. In this case, because he was not a registered sex offender in Oklahoma at the time, he would not have been told that," Grimes said.
According to Pittsburgh police, the 11-year-old alleged victim in the recent rape case told officers she had just gotten off her school bus and was walking home when a man sitting on the porch of an abandoned house on Ivondale Street (pictured, left) grabbed her by the arm, then forced her inside and assaulted her.
Video: Watch Sheldon Ingram's Report With Comments From Child's Father, Police Slideshow: Photos From The Search SceneHaidle is being held in the Allegheny County Jail on charges of rape, false imprisonment and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Pittsburgh City Council President Doug Shields
has submitted legislation pushing to demolish abandoned buildings in that area of Greenfield.
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