MN- Court upholds civil commitment of sex offender

3-4-2009 Minnesota:

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld the civil commitment of 23-year-old Richard Patrick Comeau as a sexually dangerous person.

According to court documents, Comeau is believed to have assaulted more than a dozen youths, beginning when he was about 13 years old. His victims included males and females as young as 5 and as old as 19.

The former Shakopee man was committed by Scott County District Court Judge Michael Fahey on April 4, 2008. He will be residing within the Minnesota Sex Offender Program and housed at a treatment facility in either St. Peter or Moose Lake, Minnesota.

Fahey ruled that Comeau met the conditions necessary for civil commitment, including his "utter lack of power to control" his sexual urges and lack of significant improvement from treatment. "There is clear and convincing evidence that, as a result of his past course of harmful sexual conduct, his mental disorders and his lack of power to control his sexual impulses, it is highly likely that Comeau will engage in further harmful sexual conduct and he is dangerous to others," Fahey wrote.

Comeau challenged his commitment, arguing the district court shouldn’t have considered disclosures he made during mandatory sex-offender treatment, and absent these records, the court lacked sufficient evidence to commit him. He also argued the court erred in finding that there was no less-restrictive treatment facility available for him.

In its December ruling, the appeals court said Comeau’s treatment form stated staff would report any suspected or known child abuse to authorities. Furthermore, Minnesota law allows the admission of relevant records or data in civil-commitment hearings. The appeals court found the testimony of court-appointed examiners, in addition to Comeau’s admission of offenses against four minors, as clear and convincing evidence of a habitual course of sexual misconduct. ..News Source.. by Shannon Fiecke, Staff Writer