Sexual predator program under fire by lawmakers

[Thom Little]

State officials are trying to come up with a strategy for dealing with what they call “the worst of the worst” criminal offenders — sexual predators.

A recent audit shows the number of offenders committed to the sexual predator treatment program has increased by 144 percent since 2001, and costs have increased 480 percent to approximately $7.8 million per year. The forecast is for continued exponential growth.

But lawmakers are questioning what, if anything, the state is getting from this investment.

“This is a group that may never change its perception of what is proper,” state Rep. Jan Pauls, D-Hutchinson, said recently of sexual predators.


http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/nov/21/sexual_predator_program_under_fire_lawmakers/?sexual_predator_law