State found not liable for releasing rapist who then killed teenager

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6-1-15 California:

State mental-health authorities are not liable for determining that a convicted rapist — who raped and killed a teenager four days after leaving prison — was suitable for release, the California Supreme Court decided unanimously Monday.

Elaina Novoa sued the Department of Mental Health, charging that her sister’s death was caused by the government’s failure to fulfill its duties under the Sexually Violent Predators Act. That law permits dangerous sex offenders to be confined in a mental institution after their prison terms end.

In a ruling written by Justice Carol A. Corrigan, the state high court agreed that the mental health department failed to follow the law in evaluating Gilton Pitre, who was in prison for raping a female roommate in 1996.

But the court said the victim’s sister could not prove that the government’s inadequate evaluation caused the 2007 rape and strangulation of Alyssa Gomez, 15, a runaway who lived on the streets of Hollywood.

Column: Protection from predators

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4-21-15 Florida:

After almost 15 years in prison, Michael Shepard was released with a sexual predator designation. The apartment complex he moved to last December vigilantly disclosed his predator history to its tenants. Yet today, less than four months after moving in, he stands accused in the sexual assaults of seven children in Pinellas Park.

Shepard had six known victims before he went to prison. Since his release, police say he has added seven new victims. What is unknown is how many other, unreported victims Shepard may have left in his wake. While a jury may ultimately decide his guilt or innocence, Pinellas County parents are wondering how to keep their children safe.

Unfortunately, few child molesters come with a warning label, as Shepard did. Most live quietly in our communities, looking, working, talking and acting like average citizens. Even when they arrive with a notification flier, molesters are experts at manipulating both adults and children into trusting relationships. In 93 percent of reported child sexual abuse cases, the parent/guardian already knew and trusted the molester before the child did.

I-Team: Sexual predator charged with new sex crimes evaluated before release under Jimmy Ryce Act

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3-11-15 Florida:

Judge found no probable cause to commit offender

Before Michael Shepard was released from prison, he was evaluated by mental health experts to try to determine his threat to the public.

Shepard was evaluated as part of the Jimmy Ryce Act, which is a law that allows civil commitments of sexual predators who are likely to re-offend.

While the state attorney recommended Shepard be held after his prison sentence was completed, a Pinellas County judge disagreed.

“Michael Shepard is a predator,” said a Pinellas Park Police spokesperson, describing the man now charged with 10 new sex crimes against children.

Shepard was released from the Florida Department of Corrections in late 2013 after serving 15 years in prison for similar crimes.

I-Team: Sexual predator charged with new sex crimes evaluated before release under Jimmy Ryce Act

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3-10-15 Florida:

Judge found no probable cause to commit offender

Before Michael Shepard was released from prison, he was evaluated by mental health experts to try to determine his threat to the public.

Shepard was evaluated as part of the Jimmy Ryce Act, which is a law that allows civil commitments of sexual predators who are likely to re-offend.

While the state attorney recommended Shepard be held after his prison sentence was completed, a Pinellas County judge disagreed.

“Michael Shepard is a predator,” said a Pinellas Park Police spokesperson, describing the man now charged with 10 new sex crimes against children.

Shepard was released from the Florida Department of Corrections in late 2013 after serving 15 years in prison for similar crimes.

10 years after UND student’s murder, Dru Sjodin's mother and others remember

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See also: State doctor who evaluated Rodriguez may be removed from job

11-17-2013 Minnesota:

Linda Walker lives alone now in her house on the shore of Clamshell Lake, with Izzy, a Black Lab-Golden Retriever mix. It’s been 10 years since her daughter, Dru Sjodin, was abducted from the parking lot of Grand Forks’ Columbia Mall by convicted sex offender Alfonso Rodriguez, assaulted and killed.

PEQUOT LAKES, Minn. — Linda Walker lives alone now in her house on the shore of Clamshell Lake, with Izzy, a Black Lab-Golden Retriever mix.

It’s been 10 years since her daughter, Dru Sjodin, was abducted from the parking lot of Grand Forks’ Columbia Mall by convicted sex offender Alfonso Rodriguez, assaulted and killed.

Walker’s life has changed, of course, in ways she couldn’t control but perhaps more important, in ways she is directing.

The grief and loss still are here but Walker has a steely resolve evident in her eyes when she talks about promises she made to her daughter and about keeping them.

It began here by the lake the day of Dru’s funeral in April 2004, after her body was finally found in a ravine near Crookston as the snow was melting. Linda had the Cadillac carrying Dru’s body detour on the way to the cemetery to come down this driveway one last time to her home, to the lake she loved.

“I promised to bring her home,” Walker said.

She is still keeping promises, dedicating her time to doing what she doesn’t really enjoy: public speaking, lobbying politicians, attending court hearings and talking to reporters.

“I just wanted to ensure that what happened to Dru wasn’t going to happen to other people,” Walker said last week.

Dru’s father, Allan Sjodin, also consistently has said for 10 years that his daughter’s memory and spirit keep pushing him to make sure she gets justice and that she is not forgotten. He lives near Park Rapids, Minn., with his life Linda.

Editorial: Keeping better track of sex offenders

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9-7-2013 Florida:

It's been 14 years since the Jimmy Ryce law took effect requiring the state to examine convicted sexual offenders and decide whether they should be held in a treatment center after finishing their prison sentences. It hasn't proven to be a foolproof reform. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel's series "Sex Predators Unleashed" documents horrific cases in which rapists and child molesters were released from prison only to assault new victims — sometimes on the very day they were freed. The question at the center of the newspaper's investigation asks: Why were these men were allowed to leave confinement?

State lawmakers are calling for new mandatory minimum sentences, an expansion of civil commitment after criminal sentences are served, and other knee-jerk measures. But they aren't the answer, just as the Jimmy Ryce law wasn't the answer 14 years ago. There are other, less expensive approaches to improving public safety, including better monitoring of released sex offenders and enhanced treatment in prison and after release.

Since 1999, the Jimmy Ryce law has allowed the state to subject sexual predators to civil commitment after they have served their criminal sentence. The law was named after a 9-year-old boy who was raped and murdered in South Florida. Civil commitment seems to violate due process by confining people in anticipation of what they might do in the future. But the courts have found it constitutional, and Florida appears to be stuck with it.

Of the 3,000 or so sex offenders in Florida who are evaluated each year for civil confinement after serving their sentences, only a handful are considered dangerous enough to qualify. The Sun-Sentinel's investigation suggests that too many dangerous sexual predators are slipping through the cracks, but the system is not as broken as it first appears.

3,000 per year X 14 years = 42,000 released. News found 594 recidivists / 42,000 = 1.4% recidivism rate.

The newspaper's investigation found 594 instances over 14 years where a sex offender was arrested for another sex crime after release. That added up to more than 460 children molested, 121 women sexually assaulted and 14 people killed. Those are terrible crimes, but the recidivism rate for sexual offenders who were reviewed and let go was less than 10 percent. Florida's overall recidivism rate is 30.5 percent over three years, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. This indicates that a large percentage of sex offenders are not appropriate candidates for civil commitment.

Determining who is dangerous and mentally troubled enough to enter Florida's 720-bed sex offender treatment facility is not an exact science. But if standards for civil commitment are loosened, it will lead to costly and unnecessary confinements. The state has spent more than $450 million on this population since the law took effect, and there is no data on how effective the treatment has been.

What makes more sense is for Florida to do a better job tracking sex offenders after they are released. Since 2000, state audits have made that recommendation but no agency has been assigned to do it. Treatment should start in prison and help should continue after release. If the Legislature can find money for more confinement beds, it should be able to fund cost-effective, less restrictive alternatives. These are awful crimes that deserve more attention, but longer prison sentences that limit judicial discretion and more civil commitments to a "treatment facility" are not the answer. ..Source.. by Tampa Bay Times

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New Documents Released on Donald Smith, accused killer of 8 year old Cherish Perrywinkle

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7-24-2013 Florida:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The three white crosses in the Perrywinkle's front yard are a daily reminder of 8-year-old Cherish.

But the crush of information concerning Donald Smith, her accused killer, has made it hard for the family to remember her in peace.

New documents released by the Department of Children and Families show Smith refused to participate in his own treatment several times and declined to be interviewed or attend therapy.

In prison, Smith was constantly in trouble.

Documents show he lied to prison officials, and was found in possession of narcotics and other contraband.

His answers to prison officials changed by the day.

At one point he told a psychologist he had "no comment" about whether or not he had violent sexual fantasies.

Asked 4 months later, Smith said, "not anymore, I don't."

Explaining why he didn't want to participate in treatment while incarcerated, he said, "this program will never touch the type of modalities I've been through."

In 2006, a team of psychologists determined he did not meet the criteria to be locked up in the state's treatment facility for violent sexual offenders, in part, because he refused to be interviewed.

When he was released, a court agreement shows that he was scheduled to receive Depo-Lupron shots to chemically castrate him.

The documents do not show if he actually followed through with the treatment, and DCF said that's medically privileged information.

While the new information might shed some light on Donald Smith, Cherish's mother's boyfriend says it won't bring their little girl back. ..Source.. by Kaitlyn Ross

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DCF to review criteria for sexually violent offenders program after Cherish Perrywinkle death

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7-19-2013 Florida:

The Florida Department of Children and Families will review its criteria for which sex offenders should be held in civil commitment, almost a month after a Jacksonville man was charged with the kidnapping and murder of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle.

Dan Montaldi, administrator of the state’s sexually violent predator program, said procedures are reviewed when it is learned that someone evaluated in the program has been re-arrested. Donald James Smith’s arrest on June 22 was a high-profile example, he said, and studies published in the last year have also raised questions about the effectiveness of the psychological assessment tool used in evaluating offenders for continued confinement as they are scheduled to be released from prison.

“It’s important for us to look at all our programs to make sure we’re keeping everyone safe, particularly children in our state,” Montaldi said.

The department will convene a team of experts to review the tools it uses to determine whether a sex offender leaving prison should be held under the Sexually Violent Predator Program, better known as the Jimmy Ryce Act, DCF press secretary Whitney Ray said in a statement.

Professional journals have discussed the evaluation tools used by the state to decide whether a person with a criminal history of sexual offenses is likely to be dangerous, according to the statement. The review team will deliver findings on the Static-99R tool by Sept. 23.

Montaldi said the evaluation tool is just one part of a comprehensive review, and different studies have found varied recidivism rates in cases where the predictive tool was used.

REFUSED TREATMENT

Records provided to the Times-Union Friday show that Smith declined treatment several times before he was released from prison — apparently even during his time in the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia.

Smith’s first evaluation under the Jimmy Ryce Act stemmed from 1992, when police said Smith tried to lure a 13-year-old girl into his van in Jacksonville. He chased her into a park, and later that day showed pornography to children. He served almost five years before getting paroled in 1997, but returned to prison on a parole violation.

He was held in civil commitment for three years. Clinical records were not released due to medical privacy laws (HIPAA), but Smith refused to attend a meeting or sign a consent form to receive treatment at the commitment center two weeks before prosecutors dropped the civil case in 2002. He was never taken to trial. The court ordered him to seek his own treatment.

He was sent back to state prison in 2004 for dealing in stolen property. Records from Smith’s file show that each time he entered a prison facility, he declined treatment.

Smith is quoted in a 2005 report as saying, “This program wouldn’t be able to touch the [treatment] modalities I’ve been through.” He refused to talk about his current offenses, and when asked if he believed he had a problem with sexual thoughts or behavior, he said, “Not anymore I don’t.”

In 2006, when he was scheduled for release, records show an evaluator said Smith did not meet the criteria to be committed as a violent sexual offender.

Records show that during that evaluation, Smith declined to be interviewed. ..Source.. by Kate Howard Perry

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Donald James Smith was detained, released under program for violent sexual predators

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7-4-2013 Florida:

The first time the state could have indefinitely locked up the man charged with killing Cherish Perrywinkle, they let him out when he promised he’d get drug and psychosexual treatment.

The second time, they no longer deemed Donald James Smith a threat.

The third time, a plea bargain kept Smith out of state prison and made him ineligible to be deemed a “violent sexual predator.”

The chances to keep Smith in sex offender treatment started in 1999, with the most recent in 2012.

Smith, charged last Saturday in the kidnapping and death of 8-year-old Cherish, had been considered once to be dangerous enough to be held under a state law that keeps sex offenders in forced treatment even after their prison sentences expire.

After three years, Duval County court records show, prosecutors dismissed the petition to keep him involuntarily committed at the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia with the condition that he continue to be treated at his own cost.

The case was brought under the Jimmy Ryce Act, which was passed in 1998 after the 9-year-old was kidnapped, raped and murdered in Miami-Dade County.

All state prisoners with certain sexually motivated convictions are reviewed for possible detention under the act, which allows the state to hold them indefinitely for treatment after their sentences expire if they’re deemed to be violent sexual predators.

Harry Shorstein, who was state attorney at the time, said he didn’t recall the case.

“I do remember we were very, very aggressive on Jimmy Ryce cases,” Shorstein said.

Jackelyn Barnard, spokeswoman for State Attorney Angela Corey, did not return a call for comment.

The Department of Children and Families only makes recommendations to prosecutors on which offenders should be detained as violent sexual predators, but it’s up to prosecutors to make the case.

Dan Montaldi, administrator of the sexually violent predator program, said everything was done properly in Smith’s case on DCF’s end.

Sex Offender Study May Keep Some Inmates Behind Bars

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7-2-2013 Florida:

More than 650 men being held in a state prison are so dangerous a judge has determined they can’t be released even though they have served their sentences. They are all sex offenders deemed likely to offend again. A new study aims to help prosecutors better predict who might be dangerous in the future.

There are currently 657 sex offenders still locked up in Florida even though they completed their sentences. The law keeping them in jail indefinitely was passed in 1998 after the brutal rape and murder of nine year old Jimmy Ryce. “He was a very smart, perfect child,” said Donald Ryce the Father.

Named for nine year old, the Jimmy Ryce act allows those whom psychologists deem still dangerous to be involuntarily committed. “There is a few people at the facility who have been there ever since the beginning of the program in 1999. Other people stay for varying lengths of time,” says David Monfaldi, Administrator: Sexually Violent Predator Program

Donald Smith, the man accused of killing eight year old Cherish Perrywinkel was committed under the Jimmy Ryce Act, that was 1999, but prosecutors didn’t pursue permanent lockup. Now a new study of sex offenders in Florida shows what many already know, offenders, like Donald Smith, are incurable. “After ten years, nearly fourteen percent of the sample had been rearrested for sexual crimes,” tells Dr. Jill Levenson Lynn University

Smith was arrested again in 2009 for a sex crime, but because the charge was knocked down to a misdemeanor, a risk assessment wasn’t triggered.“When we are making assessments solely on the offense of conviction, here’s an example of where that criteria can really underestimate the risk of somebody’s likelihood to commit a future violent offense,” says Dr. Jill Levenson

The Hope the new study is to better predict who will be dangerous in the future. ..Source.. by Capital News Service

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Sex Offender Should Have Been Behind Bars

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6-25-2013 Florida:

Donald James Smith is accused of killing eight year old Cherish Perrywinkle after befriending her family and leading her from a Jacksonville Wal-Mart.

Smith was convicted of a sex crime in 1992 and as he was about to leave prison in 1999, the state flagged Smith as likely to re-offend and be dangerous in the future.

Psychiatrists who evaluated him agreed.

Just one percent of all sex offenders and predators get such a recommendation.

"In the statue says that we're supposed to be looking for that small, extremely dangerous number of predators," said Daniel Monfaldi.

Smith was sent to a civil commitment facility near Tampa.

Keeping a violent sexual predator in confined treatment after their sentence has run out requires the approval of an unanimous jury, right now there are about 650 people undergoing that treatment.

For some reason a jury never heard about the state’s or psychiatrist's fears.

“He did do some treatment but the court let him out in 2002. There is no notation, there is just the petition was dismissed," said Monfaldi.

Smith was arrested again in 2009 for making obscene calls to a ten year old.

The charges were dropped to misdemeanors, and because there was no felony, Smith didn't meet the criteria to be reevaluated.

That's an evaluation that almost certainly would have found Smith a danger to re-offend, and would have kept him in prison indefinitely instead of allowing him to be in a Wal-Mart where he kidnapped 8 year old Cherish Perrywinkle.

Smith was only out of jail 21 days from the 2009 conviction before being arrested for the murder on Saturday. ..Source.. by WJHG.com

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