Highlights
Buzzfeed provides an article stating that a fraction of sex offenders get probation.
In my experience, most on sex offender registries got probation.
How do criminal justice reformers reconcile themselves with no incarceration for sex offenders and the #MeToo movement?
Author
Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.
Retired federal senior spokesperson. Thirty-five years of award-winning public relations for national and state criminal justice agencies. Interviewed multiple times by every national news outlet. Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for the Department of Justice’s clearinghouse. Former Director of Information Services, National Crime Prevention Council. Former Adjunct Associate Professor of criminology and public affairs-University of Maryland, University College. Former advisor to presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. Former advisor to the “McGruff-Take a Bite Out of Crime” national media campaign. Certificate of Advanced Study-Johns Hopkins University.
Introduction
I was the Director of Public Information for the Maryland Department of Public Safety. I was there when we started the sex offender registry to document and make public those convicted of sex crimes.
Because of massive public and media interest, I had the opportunity to discuss the registry and sex offenders with experts. I was surprised when I realized that most of the offenders on the registry were probationers, including those engaged in sex with minors. A few got split sentences where they served a period of short incarceration, or they were sentenced to time served in jail while waiting for trial, but most were straight probations. There were more sex offenders on the registry than those incarcerated.
I’m not referring to stranger to stranger sexual assaults where the offender had a criminal or violent history. They would be sentenced to jail or prison.
I’m focusing on people who had a previous relationship with the victim of any kind, which is the majority of sexual offenses. The majority of offenders in these cases lacked a violent or repeat criminal history.
This seemed to fit the description of most on the sex offender registry. This seemed to fit the description of most sex offenders. Regardless, many had prior histories of sex offenses that were never reported or prosecuted per polygraphs or group therapy or other investigations by trained parole and probation agents.
The experts told me that many sex crimes were based on limited physical or witness evidence involving people who knew each other, however slightly. There were circumstantial considerations. Proving claims of sexual assault was difficult to the point where many resulted in plea bargains to time served (if any) and a sentence of probation. When there were sentences to jail or prison, they were often for short periods of time.
Prosecutors felt that a guilty plea and a sentence of probation was better than dropping the case due to doubts of a conviction.
We are all aware that the overwhelming percentage of all prosecutions result in plea bargains with reduced sentences, Crime in America.
Per one source, out of 1,000 rapes, 57 result in arrests, 11 are referred to prosecutors and 7 lead to a felony conviction, Crime in America.
All of us know that rape and sexual offenses are the most underreported of crimes while noting that most violent crimes are not reported to law enforcement, Crime in America.
BuzzFeed
I bring this up in reference to a detailed analysis of a sex act with a minor as examined by BuzzFeed.
BuzzFeed offers statistics that a small percentage of sexual assault cases got probation. That was not my experience in Maryland. It was not the experience of people I encountered from other states.
What’s below is lightly edited.
Michael Hill was arrested in June 2017, charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and released on bond. He was a family member of the victim. In February, he pleaded guilty. When it came time for sentencing, Assistant County Attorney Somah Yarney implored the judge to send Hill to prison for 12 years — the typical sentence for someone guilty of his crime — claiming Hill had “no grasp of the consequences of his behavior.”
Instead, Judge Stephen L. Smith gave Hill probation. All told, he spent four days in jail.
It wasn’t just the judge’s perceived leniency. It was that the leniency came at a time when the public’s awareness of sexual abuse and the toll it takes on victims was at an all-time high. The #MeToo era had begun just six months earlier. If men were finally being held accountable, why did this particular man get a pass?
But Hill’s sentence was not extraordinary. In 2016, Minnesota judges granted sex offenders probation instead of legally prescribed prison time in about 24% of cases. This rate varies by state; in Florida, one of the toughest states on sex offenders, around 16% of offenders got probation in 2010. An Idaho study from 2007 found that more than 33% of child sex offenders were sentenced to probation.
“In this awakened era of #MeToo, it is hard to see how anyone could … think this minimal sentence is proportional to the seriousness of Mr. Hill’s triple-digit sex crimes,” Ragatz wrote in a court filing.
A judge looked at Hill, a young first-time offender in treatment, and decided he deserved a chance at rehabilitation.
Two months before Hill’s sentence was appealed, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office released a two-year study detailing how it handles sex crimes. The findings: Of all the reports investigated by police, 30% made it to the county attorney’s office to be considered for prosecution. From there, 37% of cases were prosecuted. That meant less than 11.5% of sex crimes reported in Ramsey County resulted in criminal charges.
It’s hard to say how these figures compare to other counties across the country because few release such information. The best national statistics available come from the FBI, which in 2016 said that 36.5% of reported rapes were turned over to courts for prosecution, BuzzFeedNews.
Conclusions
I was told by insiders and those from other states that most on sex offender registries were probationers. In my personal review of registry offenders, the majority were probationers. Conflicts with my experience and data offered by BuzzFeed may involve definitional issues.
The larger question is the #MeToo movement justifiably demanding accountability, criminal justice reformers who want dramatically fewer sentences to probation and prison, and the larger society’s desire for justice.
Regardless, in this day and age of the #MeToo movement, accountability for predatory criminal behavior needs sanctions of incarceration. Most child sex crimes involve grooming. Most sexual assaults involve a degree of trust.
Contacts
Contact us at leonardsipes@gmail.com.
My book: “A Must Have Book,” Success With The Media: Everything You Need To Survive Reporters and Your Organization available at Amazon
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Reviews are appreciated.
Maybe u should visit the indiana state prison in Michigan city indiana where men are serving 100 year sentences with no prior record at all.
Hi Jessica: What crimes did they commit? It doesn’t take a criminal history to send someone to prison for a long period of time if the crime involves violence with injury or multiple victims. Best, Len.