Many people in the Twin Cities may remember hearing about the former sex offender who was the first person to be released from the Minnesota Security Hospital’s civil commitment program last March. He had originally been sentenced to prison as a level 3 sex offender, but when he had finished his prison sentence, the state chose to enter him into a civil commitment program because it feared that he would reoffend. For years, he remained locked up in a hospital, but he basically remained imprisoned since his initial conviction.
In March, however, he made history by being the first person to ever be released from his St. Peter hospital. His release likely also spurred the federal lawsuits filed by numerous civilly-committed former sex offenders, which, in turn, led to a court-ordered reformation of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program. The state had been ordered to come up with recommendations for a new program by yesterday.
Despite all of the media attention and all of the community concerns that this 64 year old was going to reoffend, there were no issues reported since his release to a Golden Valley halfway home. The people of Golden Valley certainly knew that the former offender was going to be moving into the area, however. The Golden Valley Police Department not only held a community meeting in which the city’s residents discovered what the man was accused of doing, as well as other information about his status as an offender, but the media heavily covered the release. Fortunately, the man’s release went off without any issue, though he easily could have been targeted for his history.
Now, the Golden Valley mayor has announced that the man will be moving to Minneapolis. As he moves forward with his life and is able to live in the Twin Cities without any serious problems, his success may be the proof that many in the state need to modify the seemingly endless detention of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.
Source: CBS Minnesota, “High-Risk Sex Offender To Move From Golden Valley To Mpls.” Nov. 30, 2012
Sex crimes are very serious and come with severe punishment if convicted. You can learn more about Minnesota’s penalties for sex crimes by visiting our website.
