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| Few sex offenders deemed 'violent predators,' audit finds |
| By californiawatch.org - Ryan Gabrielson |
| Published: 07/13/2011 |
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The year before California voters passed Jessica’s Law, a broad crackdown on sex offenders, the state prison system referred 512 potentially “violent predators” for examination. By 2007, the year after the law (Proposition 83) passed, that number had rocketed by more than 1,600 percent. Meanwhile, the number of convicts actually deemed sexually violent predators almost tripled, from 15 in 2005 to 43 in 2007. But the number of predators has dwindled in the years since, according to a report released yesterday by the California State Auditor. The auditor’s examination [PDF] found that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has been referring far more inmates for examination as possible sexually violent predators than the law permits. Rather than discerning which sex offenders to refer, the prison system has instead forwarded all such offenders for review. Further, the corrections department has not given the state Department of Mental Health the required six-month lead time for examinations. Corrections officials confirmed the findings. “We agree that improvements can be made in streamlining the process and have already implemented steps to improve the timeliness of our referrals to DMH,” wrote Scott Kernan, the corrections undersecretary. Offenders deemed predators are committed to treatment by the mental health department after finishing their prison sentences. Jessica’s Law made it easier to designate a predator in two ways. First, it expanded the number of criminal offenses that can earn a convict that label. Second, it changed the law so that all sex offenders who have one victim of a criminal sex act can potentially be deemed a predator; in the past, an offender had to have committed crimes against at least two victims. Perhaps the most noteworthy finding in the audit report is how few convicts the state’s court system has committed as sexual predators. Read More. |
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