A bridge as a last resort

[audtatious]

SNOHOMISH — The patch under the bridge is closed in by brambles. Rodent tracks crisscross in the dirt. It may be dry, but still it's not fit for human habitation.

Unless you're a sex offender, that is.The underside of the 88th Street bridge, near this river town's greenhouses and horse farms, is where state government last week assigned a released rapist to sleep.

David J. Torrence, who assaulted a 16-year-old girl in 1995, had completed his latest prison term (for failing to register as a sex offender.) He had no place to go. So officials gave him a sleeping bag and a rain poncho, then told him to stay under this bridge, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., until further notice.

"We're not proud of it," says Mary Rehberg, parole officer for the state Department of Corrections. "We did it because this is what it has come to. Under a bridge is the best of the options we had left."

That we're now storing sex offenders under bridges is hardly the worst thing to happen in the long struggle over sex crimes. Not compared with what happened to the victims.

But it is a sign of a looming breakdown. There's got to be a better way.

Nobody wants sex offenders around. It can be infuriating to see taxes spent on their treatment or care. But putting them under bridges, like trolls? Set aside whether that's inhuman. It's about the worst outcome possible, for public safety.

Torrence was released from state prison at Monroe on April 20. He is a Level 3 — high risk for reoffending. He is not deemed so dangerous, or his crimes so serious, that he qualifies to be locked up longer.

Rehberg tried for months to find him a place to live.

He's barred by local ordinance from living in the town of Monroe (it bans all Level 2 and 3 offenders.) So she tried his relatives in another state. That state, like Monroe, rejected having him come there.

She called motels, shelters, landlords known to rent to sex offenders. All said no.

Almost any apartment building was likely to be off-limits because there would be families living there.

That's increasingly the way it goes. Sex offenders are the new lepers. She fitted him with a GPS bracelet and drove him to the 88th Street bridge.

"At least we could check on him," she said. "We could keep trying to find him a place. I'm sorry to say it, but it was the best we had to offer."

On the fourth night, he cut off his monitor and fled. So far he hasn't been found.

Some version of this sorry story is about to happen again. Rehberg is trying, but failing, to find housing for three more sex offenders, all due out soon.

The state has got to build some monitored halfway houses for sex offenders. Like you, I don't especially want one on my block. It also strikes me as unfair to pay for housing for criminals while many taxpaying folks are hurting.

But forget about fair. This system is shot. Our government just put a Level 3 sex offender under a bridge.

I asked Rehberg: Did you get much criticism for this?

"Not as much as we get when we actually find them a place to live," she said.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.c....html

[nismofly]

On the fourth night, he cut off his monitor and fled. So far he hasn't been found.

well ill be...ill be damned if i didnt see that coming

[rn79870]

Having a monitor attached to an ankle is rather stupid anyway. It needs to be surgically implanted in his scrotum, and sensitive to the slightest change in the area. A debilitating shock should be administered every time the offender gets a woody. A shock that brings him to his knees and causes him to lose control of bodily functions.

That's my 2 cents.

[audtatious]

Does anyone feel that castration should be performed on repeat offenders or to those who cannot be rehabilitated?

[AZhitman]

No, because sex offenses are not driven by a need for sexual gratification.

I carried a sex offender caseload for several years, and their offense is more about power, control, even boredom than gratification.

Bob's idea is a bit more useful, but the libbidelphians won't have it.

[audtatious]

Then cut their d!ck off along with their testicles.....

[rn79870]

These crimes has obviously been around for some time. Traditional methods of treatment/punishment have not worked. There must be an answer somewhere short of permanently incarcerating them, however, it looks more and more like that may be the only answer.

[AZhitman]

Then cut their d!ck off along with their testicles.....

Not the point.

Hell, she may have been molested with his pants up, who knows.

Bootm line is, there's no easy answer, and the more you look at it, the better permanent incarceration looks.

[audtatious]

Of course it's not the point. BUT, knowing it could happen may stop some from doing their first crime.