Lawmakers Set To Tighten Rules On Sex Predators

November 7, 2013

The Florida House is taking a hard look at the state’s civil-commitment process for sexual predators, with House committees working together on an overhaul — and it’s likely that any recent slack in the commitment process will be corrected next year.

“One of the things we are going to do is ratchet up some of the penalties on people who abuse children sexually, abuse seniors, abuse the developmentally disabled,” said House Criminal Justice Chairman Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach. “We’re also going to make sure that when people get out of jail, we don’t just release them back into the wild and hope for the best.”

The process took another step forward this week, as the House Healthy Families Subcommittee took up recommendations still being developed by Gaetz’s criminal-justice panel.

“We must address those here and craft those in this committee,” said House Healthy Families Chairwoman Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart. Her subcommittee oversees the state Department of Children and Families, which in turn oversees the Sexually Violent Predator Program.

Legislative hearings began in September. That came after the June rape and murder of Cherish Perrywinkle, an 8-year-old Jacksonville girl, allegedly by a sexual predator who had been released just weeks before on a prior offense.

Also, in August, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that commitments under the state’s Jimmy Ryce Act had dried up. The act targets sexually violent predators who cannot stop themselves from further violence, and identifying them requires a DCF screening, a psychological evaluation and a trial. Once committed to the 720-bed Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia, they must remain until a judge rules they are no longer dangers to society.

The Sun Sentinel found that 594 offenders had been released statewide, only to be convicted of new sex offenses — more than 460 child molestations, 121 rapes and 14 murders.

“Over a period of a year or two, there were no longer a significant number of people committed under this program,” Harrell said.

Now the Sexually Violent Predator Program has a new director, Kristin Kanner, a 21-year prosecutor and the former head of Broward County’s civil commitment unit for sexual predators. DCF Interim Secretary Esther Jacobo tapped Kanner after hearing her address lawmakers in September.

“It is very clear (Kanner) understands from top to bottom how this works,” Jacobo told lawmakers Tuesday. “She will be adding a focus in addition to the rest of the focus on treatment and identification, the public safety awareness piece and a really important partnership with law enforcement, which is very important for us to do this job correctly.”

Legislators have signaled they will give law-enforcement officers more tools to monitor sexual predators. They’re also considering adding state attorneys and corrections officials to the list of those who refer offenders for a civil-commitment evaluation.

DCF has already added convictions for attempted kidnapping or attempted murder with a sexual component as automatic grounds for referring people for evaluations.

Had that provision been in place, Cherish Perrywinkle might still be alive.

Donald Smith, 56, was released from jail in May and, according to prosecutors, kidnapped, raped and strangled Perrywinkle three weeks later. A registered sex offender, Smith had made repeated failed attempts to kidnap young girls — even posing as a DCF worker in one instance. But those crimes did not qualify him for civil commitment. Now they would.

Rep. Dane Eagle, R-Cape Coral, represented the House Criminal Justice panel at the meeting of Harrell’s subcommittee Tuesday. Harrell said she, Eagle and Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, would shepherd a legislative response on the House side.

Clearly, lawmakers are in no mood for half-measures. Gaetz said crafting the legislation would be one of the most important things his committee does during the 2014 legislative session.

“There are some folks who commit some offenses who we should never let out of jail,” Gaetz said. “If you are predisposed to violently rape children, or senior citizens, or the developmentally disabled, you simply should not be allowed to walk the streets with the rest of us.”

by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida

Pictured top: Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz talks to the capitol press Wednesday. Photo by Tom Urban, NSF, for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

6 Responses to “Lawmakers Set To Tighten Rules On Sex Predators”

  1. curious on November 9th, 2013 10:07 am

    Validator, I believe you are 100% correct on all except for the budget, as for Mickey, I’d be moving, if you have kids you should have checked sex offender list.

  2. WompaLompa on November 8th, 2013 4:14 pm

    Valigator….the system doesn’t release these guys due to budget. They release these guys because they served their prion sentence for their crime. In Florida, I think they have to serve at least 80-85% of their sentence. Once released, these guy are free just like you and me and have the same rights by law. However, they are often given no support and just left in the “wild”. Of course they are going to re offend because they are sick in the head and messed up! Instead of just pretending these people don’t exist or forcing them to live under a bridge, Florida needs to enact tougher sentencing on sex crimes to keep the bad ones in jail and provide some type of support (counseling, help obtaining a job skills and a stable living environment, ect) to those that serve their sentence and are released. By providing support, it may help reduce the likelihood them of re-offending AND stop someone from becoming a victim. These guys are sick and probably can’t be cured but may be able to learn (with support) to not act out on their violent perverse actions.

  3. Valigator on November 8th, 2013 2:45 am

    Mickey, while your attempts to minimize the dangers of convicted sex offenders doesnt go un noticed , it was a feeble attempt all the same. (Must be a member of (FAC) , For people who casually stumble across this article Florida doesnt prosecute for “Romeo Crimes” and havent in years and years. Not to mention without accessing court records the general public should never fall for the “had consentual underage sex and ended up on the registry” tale of woe. All sex offenders and or their families USE that as a description when asked about their offenses. Its textbook. Never take the word of a convicted sex offender or their familes , they LIE. THEY ALL LIE. The system continues to release the worst of the worst for no other reason than “BUDGET” . Oh and Mickey, (due diligence) is also checking out your neighborhood Prior to purchasing, not afterwards.

  4. fred on November 7th, 2013 9:23 am

    Smith currently faces the death penalty if convicted. Let us hope for a successful prosecution and swift justice.

    I don’t understand why he couldn’t have been arrested on stalking charges after those kidnapping attempts. Maybe I just don’t understand the law in those cases, but surely he could have been apprehended and stopped without this complicated referral process.

  5. Vita Boyle on November 7th, 2013 7:37 am

    A real need as well is to closely monitor the predators that are released and label themselves as “transient”, in other words, no set home location. Many many of them find homes with children in them, and they live in those homes. Yet they are registered as transient. The probation officers should do a better job of following up on them and removing them from the homes they are in where children reside.

  6. Mickey on November 7th, 2013 6:43 am

    We moved to a neighborhood, where we were notified by many neighbors and our realtor, that the person to our right was a registered sex offender. After living there one month , this is what we found out. The neighbor who told us first , lives directly across the street has a rap sheet a mile long and has been to prison three times for selling drugs on school campus. The neighbor to our left, murdered his entire family, but got off due to a hung jury. And the sex offender , well he had been dating a younger girl for three years , and when he tried to break up with her.. her mom brought charges against him for having sex with a minor. Guess which neighbor I feel the most comfortable living beside.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News