Case A: Parolee Steven, Sexual Assault of a Minor Steven is serving a 5- to 15-year sentence for Sexual Assault of a Minor. He has served seven and one-half years of his sentence, which is five years beyond the minimum time to be served. Because he has three prior convictions for similar offenses, he does not have to be released until he has served 10 years of his sentence. Steven spent time in prison for two of the three prior offenses against minors. Each time he was released, he successfully completed the release period of parole supervision. All of his victims have been his grandchildren; family members are strongly opposed to his release and fear he will commit similar acts upon release. Steven has completed a sexual offender treatment program during this incarceration; he always refused to participate in treatment during prior incarcerations. The prognosis by the treatment counselor is guarded but indicates that Steven has worked hard on learning his offending triggers and knows whom to avoid if released. He has not had any rule violations while incarcerated and has accounting skills. He will be released under the supervision of a parole officer to a community where none of his family reside and does not want contact with his family. He has been accepted into a halfway house program and plans on attending community-based sexual offender aftercare groups.Assume that conditions for sex offenders include one or more of the following:
1. No contact with any minor child if victim of sexual crime was a minor or no contact with minor at all even if the victim was of adult age.
2. Contact with minor children approved only if parole officer approves another supervising adult o be present at time of contact.
3. No possession of sexually explicit material – written, audio, or visual.
4. If the offense involved the use of the Internet or a computer, cannot have a personal computer and cannot work where access to Internet is allowed, or in some jurisdictions can have no computer access at all even if offense did not involve computer usage.
5. Notification to neighbors and employers of offender’s sexual offense history and supervision status.
6. Mandatory participation in sexual offender treatment or aftercare programs.
7. Mandatory routine polygraph exams as part of treatment or supervision.
8. If offense involved filming or pictures of victim, no camera or video equipment access allowed.
9. Cannot work in any employment that would allow access to children or victim-aged groups; cannot be self-employed.
10. Cannot live within a certain distance of schools, play grounds, public parks, or other places where minors congregate.
- Which supervision conditions are pertinent to these sex offenders?
- Which additional conditions should be imposed on the offender in terms of his or her offense, and what challenges of community supervision does each case present?
