With little or no treatment given during prison terms, the state's approach
is flawed from the start
John Archer says he began preying on children his own age when he was 7.
He remained drawn to them even as as he grew older for reasons clinicians
do not yet understand.
He said it may have started when he was abused at the age of 4. Another possible
cause: the brain defect he sustained at birth.
Whatever the reason, he was arrested for slipping his hand into the underwear
of a 5-year-old girl during a fishing trip in Holiday, Fla., in 1985.
He was 20 years old.
Archer admitted to abusing the girl on other occasions and made a rare request
to the judge: He asked for help with his sickness.
He was supposed to enroll in a special prison program for sex offenders, one
of the first of its kind in the country.
Even the judge urged Archer to seek therapy in prison, "so when you come out,
the balance of your life can be fruitful, good and rewarding."
But two months before he was to enter Florida's cutting-edge prison treatment
program, Gov. Bob Martinez and the Legislature scrapped it.
Twenty years later, the balance of John Archer's life looks like this: four
more victims under the age of 12, two new convictions and nearly 19 years spent
behind tall fences and razor wire. Now 47, he is a resident of the Florida Civil
Commitment Center.
The lack of treatment in prison for Archer and others is a crucial flaw in
Florida's system for dealing with sexual offenders who pose the greatest threat
to women and children, an investigation by The Miami Herald found.
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