A court ruling that could free more than 100 Colorado rapists, child molesters and other sex offenders from prison has alarmed victims of sex crimes and sent law-enforcement officers scrambling to undo the damage.
Nine inmates were turned loose before Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar stepped in and halted the releases on October 1.
'I frankly was outraged that this number of offenders could be given the green light to walk without taking as much time as could be taken under the law to make sure victims were notified,' Salazar said.
He has asked the state Supreme Court for another hearing to reconsider its September 18 ruling.
Corrections Department officials tried to calm dozens of victims fearful that their attackers are free to strike again.
'This is ridiculous,' Rebecca Nye told the Denver Post. Nye's two young daughters were molested by a neighbor five years ago. 'The laws need to work for kids.'
Allison Morgan of the agency's victim-notification unit said callers were told the agency must follow the ruling. 'They fully understand that this comes down from the Supreme Court,' Morgan said. 'They are shocked that the court would do this.'
The ruling threw out mandatory five-year parole sentences for rapists, child molesters and other sex offenders convicted between 1993 and 1996. The court ruled Sept. 18 that about 300 sex offenders had been sentenced under a system of conflicting laws.
Corrections officials responded by releasing nine inmates and notifying 84 paroled sex offenders that they no longer had to attend mandatory therapy sessions or visit parole officers. All but five of those offenders have been notified that they are back on parole pending the court fight, said John Suthers, director of the Corrections Department.
If the ruling stands, it could free 112 sex offenders in prison for parole violations and release 170 other offenders from parole supervision and mandatory therapy, Suthers said.
An additional 600 offenders could be released from prison without parole once they complete their sentences.
'To release them without supervision is contrary to what society needs and to what they need,' Suthers said. He said pedophilia was best controlled with mandatory therapy sessions.
Karmen Carter, executive director of the Rape Assistance and Awareness Program, said most victims of sex offenders improved their home security and took other precautions when they knew their assailants had been released from prison.