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Richard Piatt reporting Utah lawmakers have expressed an interest in helping stop sex offenders from re-offending. A recent study shows the number of re-offenders is around 10 percent in Utah, and a proposal intended to make the success rate better just passed a House committee.
Eyewitness News talked to a sex offender who is on parole about this program. It's called a "multi-domain assessment," essentially an hour-and-a-half-long series of questions.
"J," as we're calling him, told us that the series of questions help him understand why he offended and how he can keep from doing it again. He didn't seem to mind the idea of taking the test every 16 weeks. That's on top of the other conditions of parole and in addition to extensive counseling he's already done.
"Now I've developed a sense of empathy. I understand what can happen to these children in the long run, and I want to now do everything I can to not re-offend," he said.
Even though a House committee approved the idea of a pilot program for the assessment this morning, the Department of Corrections opposes the idea. The director, Tom Patterson, cites a lack of research about the program, legal and constitutional questions, and the money for the pilot program.
Patterson says the current sex offender programs need more cash now. "It's a considerable amount of money--nearly a half million dollars--that would be spent in an area that we haven't had a chance to evaluate to see if it is in fact valuable for us," he said.
Everyone on the Criminal Justice Committee wants to protect the public and help offenders stay out of trouble. But lawmakers will have to wrestle with that old question: Do they bring in something new or pay more attention to the programs the state already has?
