State's sex offender program questioned

12-29-2010 New York:

The sex offender — identified in court papers only as "Douglas S." — was clearly ready for release from a state psychiatric facility, according to a judge.

He had accepted the treatment and excelled in the programs. In fact, he was a model example that even pedophile sex offenders considered dangerous by the state — those civilly committed in a secured facility — can benefit from treatment to a point where they can be released to community supervision.

And Douglas S. even went a step further. He requested and received chemical therapy — chemical castration in essence — that experts said made the likelihood that he would commit a new sex crime less than 5 percent.

Despite all of that, state Office of Mental Health officials refused to release Douglas S. In fact, they would not even advance him to the fourth and final phase of treatment at the Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy.

In a ruling released last week, a Syracuse-based state Supreme Court justice, James Tormey, blasted OMH officials for their handling of the case of Douglas S. The justice questioned whether OMH officials have set such tough barriers to release that offenders have little motivation to cooperate with treatment.

"There needs to be a light at the end of the tunnel for each of these patients who cooperate, accept, acknowledge and show their willingness to work with the system to correct their behaviors as such so they are no longer a substantial threat to society," Tormey wrote in a ruling last Thursday.

Tormey ordered that Douglas S. be released from confinement and put in the parole-based part of the civil commitment program.

If such challenges to treatment mount, the legal foundation of the civil commitment program could be at risk.

Under the law, sex offenders near the end of their prison or parole term are evaluated by state mental health experts.

Those who experts decide suffer from a mental defect that makes them among the riskiest to release can become eligible for civil commitment.

Tormey's ruling is likely to resonate more than most, because he has extensive experience with civil commitment cases in New York.

Civil commitment cases can be heard in the jurisdiction where offenders are jailed or detained awaiting a resolution of the civil proceeding. Tormey has the Central New York Psychiatric Center and several prisons in his district. He has handled close to 100 civil commitment cases.

Douglas S. is not alone: The state's civil commitment program is almost four years old, and no one has completed the four-phased treatment regimen so far. None have even entered the fourth phase.

OMH officials say they are working with a difficult population — dangerous sex offenders with a psychological predisposition to commit new crimes — and treatment will be prolonged for many.

Some may never reach a point where they're safe for release.

Experience from other states — New York was the 20th to begin civil commitment — supports that conclusion. In Minnesota, where civil commitment began in 1994, only one of nearly 600 offenders has been discharged.

The apparent inability of treatment to render many offenders safe for release proves that states are locking away the most dangerous sex offenders, said Roxanne Lieb, associate director for the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, which has studied civil commitment programs.

"It stands to reason that if you confine a lot of people and you were letting them go in a year or six months, you would have to ask yourself if you've picked the right population," she said.

OMH officials had no comment and said they were reviewing Tormey's decision.

OMH also declined to allow the Democrat and Chronicle to tour the civil commitment facilities, citing the confidentiality of treatment for offenders suffering from mental ailments.

Assessing risk

For decades mental health professionals have struggled to find ways to identify the worst sex offenders. Some experts say that psychological tests have been fine-tuned enough to help them distinguish the riskiest. "Now we have a pretty good grip on who the most dangerous are," said Carl Christensen, a counselor at the Linden Oaks Sexual Abuse Treatment Services offices in Penfield.

"And we have a pretty good grip on who the least dangerous are."

Studies show that sex offenders in New York who are not routed into civil confinement or a parole-supervised civil management program have low re-arrest rates: Less than 3 percent are arrested for a sex crime within two years of release.

This proves, OMH officials say, that they are ferreting out the worst sex offenders for civil confinement.

OMH this year added several psychologists because of the growing number of offenders who must be evaluated for possible commitment, said Richard Miraglia, the OMH associate commissioner of forensics sciences.

In last week's ruling, Tormey praised the treatment providers at the Central New York Psychiatric Center, where Douglas S. was confined, for "their outstanding job in treating these individuals."

But, testimony showed, a panel of OMH psychiatric experts must recommend offenders for the fourth phase and the panel did not recommend the advancement for Douglas S. Two of the panel members had not worked with him, Tormey wrote.

Testimony in hearings showed that the supposed fourth and final treatment phase is ill-defined "with no real criteria for entry or completion," Tormey wrote.

In the ruling, he noted that the state may have spent close to $1 million to date for the treatment of Douglas S. yet seemed unwilling to release him, despite ample evidence the offender was ready.

Best use of resources?

Better sex offender treatment in prisons could reduce the number of offenders the state decides need civil commitment, some treatment providers say; still, it could be years before officials know whether that outcome is likely.

In concert with the 2007 passage of civil commitment, state officials say, they increased the availability of sex offender treatment within the prisons. Program slots for treatment went from 715 to 1,200, said Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman Linda Foglia. The annual cost is about $9.5 million — largely salary costs — at 18 different institutions.

Still, those costs are dwarfed by the spending for civilly committed offenders.

Now, however, the state is running out of room for civilly detained sex offenders, and the costs continue to mushroom each year.

Those costs will only worsen if the goal, as Tormey contended, isn't the eventual release of some offenders.

"It is quite evident to this Court throughout these (civil commitment) processes for over 3.5 years, that the Office of Mental Health is not completing its medical treatment obligation to (Douglas S.) or others by denying any efforts of the individuals to be released," Tormey wrote. ..Source.. Gary Craig, Staff writer