SD- Sentence delayed in sex case for mentally disabled man

Hats off to this judge, now how do we get him into the U.S. Supreme court? Why is it that judges see that treatment is the way to go, but, lawmakers IGNORE this and in so doing make sociiety less safe?

4-21-2009 South Dakota:

A federal judge in Sioux Falls has delayed the sentencing of a mentally disabled man who has pleaded guilty to traveling to South Dakota to have sex with a person he believed was a young girl.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol said Monday that he wants more time to explore treatment and housing options that the Bureau of Prisons has for sex offenders and whether any of them would be appropriate for a mildly mentally disabled prisoner.

Ryan Lee Balster of Jasper, Minn., pleaded guilty to traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual contact after he drove to Sioux Falls last May to meet a person who he thought was a 12-year-old girl but instead was an undercover police detective.

A psychologist and psychiatrist each testified Monday that Balster, 23, would be best served in a community treatment program with intense supervision rather than prison. It is treatment he should have been receiving already given his mental state, said Dr. Rajesh Singh, a psychiatrist.


"I think he's fallen through the cracks," he said.

Balster testified at the sentencing hearing and admitted that he had used a webcam to chat with and masturbate about someone he believed was a 12-year-old girl. He also said he had traveled to Sioux Falls to meet the girl for sex.

"If she was underage, my plans were to just go home," Balster said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Clapper argued that Balster had engaged in many sexual conversations and exhibitionist activities online and that Balster is a dangerous person.

Balster's lawyer, Timothy Langley, reserved most of his comments for the next hearing but acknowledged that Balster's disability complicates the sentencing process.

A new court date for Balster was not immediately set. He faces a 30-year prison sentence. ..News Source.. by Matthew Gruchow