IA- Programs used to help rehabilitate sex offenders

7-24-2009 Iowa:

ADA COUNTY - Sean Hale is classified as a Violent Sexual Predator but police say that didn't stop Sean Hale from committing another sex crime involving two teens from Meridian.

Three years ago Sean Hale registered as a Violent Sexual Predator in Ada County.

"He is a flight risk and a risk to the community," an Ada County prosecutor said inside the courtroom Thursday afternoon.

Hale is accused of taking nude pictures a 16-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy.

"He told the female to remove her clothing, to remove her shirt so he could take a picture of her holding her breasts."

Hale's Violent Sexual Predator classification stems from child rape and molestation convictions out of Washington in 1994. Now he's facing new allegations of child sexual abuse in Idaho.

"We really force them to look at really personal issues that the average person wouldn't want to talk about," said Sandra McCullough, a licensed counselor with Sane Solutions.

McCullough works with sexual offenders to help get them back on the right track.

When asked if sexual offenders can change and rehabilitation programs do work, McCullough responded by saying: "I think it does, I wouldn't do this work if I didn't believe in it."

McCullough says their program is centered around accountability, looking at the decisions an offender made and focusing on ways to keep them from offending again.

According to a recent report by the Idaho Department of Correction of almost 1,400 men convicted of a sex crime and released from prison, five percent actually re-offended.

McCullough says that's where focusing on every aspect of an offenders life is crucial.

"If their doing well in their family, they have jobs that pay well, they have no problem with their probation, if they have family support, if all those things are in place the likelihood of them re offending goes down," she said.

McCullough says on average offenders remain in their program for two years, some longer.

Officials with the Idaho Department of Correction say they are getting ready to expand sex offender treatment at the Idaho Correctional Center south of Boise. Officials say this will help offenders start the intense process of treatment inside prison walls and continue the treatment once they are released. ..Source.. by Kiersten Throndsen