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Washington, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin and others states with civil commitment
laws monitor offenders like Mitchell when they are released. But not Florida.
"We have some gaps in the system that need to be addressed," said Adam Deming,
clinical director of the state's facility. "I'm not sure Florida has the type of
monitoring systems that are necessary to protect the public from men who are released from
here."
The state set Mitchell free because he had made progress in treatment. In fact, he
spent four years trying to learn to control his mental disorder.
But there is one problem: Even with counseling and therapy, Mitchell's cravings for
children will never go away.
That's why experts say civil commitment must be part of a larger program that includes
therapy and monitoring well after offenders leave the center.
Without a way of easing men back into the community, offenders face a far greater
chance of failing, according to the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers.
"Here we're talking about somebody who was considered for civil commitment -- a
high-risk offender who is going to need intensive treatment and monitoring well after
leaving the center -- but there is nothing in the law that accounts for that," said Jill
Levenson, ATSA's Florida board member.
COURTS DECIDE
MORE THAN 200 MEN
HAVE BEEN SET FREE
Although clinicians at Florida's treatment center have cleared only one offender for
release since the facility opened in 1999, at least 230 men have been set free through the
courts.
That's because the Jimmy Ryce Act allows courts to decide when offenders are ready to
leave the center -- rather than giving the men clear guidelines for release through
treatment.
"Judges and juries are being asked to decide whether a person is likely to commit a
crime in the future -- not tomorrow, not 30 days from now but any time in the future,"
said Ken Johnson, a former Palm Beach County assistant public defender who handled dozens
of cases. "That's a tough thing to ask them to do."
A review by The Miami Herald of 230 offenders who spent at least a month at the center
before being released found:
• Nearly 40 percent were freed even though they
refused to participate in treatment while they were confined.
• Because Florida has no halfway houses or outpatient facilities for those who have
left the center, there is no monitoring once offenders are released -- unless they're on
probation.
But nearly seven of every 10 left the center with no probation, in part because
probation ran out while they were locked inside -- a flaw in the law that dumbfounds
experts.
• Nearly a quarter aren't on the state's sexual offender registry -- an online lookup
used to track all sexual offenders -- meaning authorities and the public have no idea where
some of the state's worst sexual offenders are living.
• Of those who are on the registry, at least six have absconded and four remain at
large.
• The average offender has been out just three years -- and already one in 10 are back
behind bars on new sex crime charges.
Ted Shaw, a Gainesville psychologist and frequent witness for both the state and the
defense at Jimmy Ryce trials, says he no longer recommends release for offenders unless
there is some type of supervision.
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