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NAMPA, Idaho (AP) — A former supervisor at a southwest Idaho juvenile detention facility sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for having sex with a 15-year-old male inmate has been released from jail in a process called retained jurisdiction.
Julie McCormick was released following a hearing in 3rd District Court on Wednesday where her sentence was changed to 10 years of supervised probation. She checked in with a state parole office for the first time that afternoon.
McCormick was sentenced in March after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a juvenile offender at the Juvenile Correction Center in Nampa where she was the head of security. But Judge Bradly S. Ford retained jurisdiction, meaning he could reassess the sentence if McCormick responded well to treatment.
"The retained jurisdiction has accomplished what I wanted it to accomplish," Ford said at McCormick's hearing Wednesday, the Idaho-Press Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/1v2agFj). "It provided initial sex offender programming while she was in the secure environment."
Ford ruled that while on supervised probation, McCormick must have no contact with the victim and no unsupervised contact with juvenile males. She must also register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.
McCormick's voice trembled when she described the treatment program in prison, saying it was one of the best things that has happened to her.
"I had to confront myself, your honor, and I had to be honest for the first time in my life," she said. "It was liberating and terrifying, and it showed me who I could have been all along if I allowed myself to be. If you grant me probation, it won't be a mistake, and you won't see me again."
Gerald Bublitz, McCormick's attorney, said his client earned the right to be considered for early release.
"I don't think you're going to have any issues with Ms. McCormick on probation, Judge," he said. "I think she's going to be a model probationer."
In a related matter, the victim in the case filed both a tort claim and a lawsuit last year against the Idaho Department of Juvenile Correction alleging that he was sexually abused by McCormack.
Two other claims have been made in the last year and a half by youths formerly held at the Nampa facility contending that they were sexually abused by two staffers.
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Information from: Idaho Press-Tribune, http://www.idahopress.com
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