Steven Sherlock, Sex Offender, Listed Children's Park As Home Address In Pennsylvania

Local police in Pennsylvania are trying to figure out how the state let a violent sexual predator register his address as a community park popular with children.

Steven Sherlock, 30, sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl in 2002 under a Ferris wheel. The former carnival ride operator was sentenced to four years in prison.

Upper Darby cops were shocked to learn last week that Sherlock had registered himself as homeless with his address as Naylor's Run Park, according to the Philadelphia Daily News. Hundreds of children and families use the sprawling park grounds every day.

"Any type of activity you can imagine kids are doing there, and this nut is living there?" said a dumbfounded Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

"It's absolutely insane ... The State Police should have asked him what bench he was sleeping on so we could find him."

State authorities told the paper that they didn't say Sherlock could live there, but that homeless people can indeed list their living quarters as public places.

"Nobody from the state police told him he could live there, it's just where he lives," said Lt. Todd Harman, commander of the Megan's Law division of the state police. "What needs to happen is if there are local ordinances, the local police have to enforce them."

Of 12,000 sex offenders who register under Megan's Law in the state, 35 identify themselves as homeless, Harman told the paper.