Program would keep an eye on sex offenders for life

Friday, Oct. 8, 1999 | 9:33 a.m.

The big question for some is how a heavily burdened state Parole and Probation Division will meet the extra responsibility of handling more than 200 sex offenders now in Nevada prisons who one day will require lifetime supervision.

The state Board of Parole Commissioners will hear a proposal for a lifetime supervision program for sex offenders and take testimony from the public Tuesday at the Nevada Highway Patrol training room in Las Vegas.

The 1995 Nevada law that resulted in the need for such a program marks the first time that those sentenced to nonlife terms in Nevada will be forced to report to the parole officials for the rest of their lives, Susan McCurdy, executive secretary of the Parole Board, said.

The law covers several types of crimes that would carry lifetime supervision, including rape of adults or children and other sexual acts involving children.

Renata Cirri, executive director of Community Action Against Rape, which operates the Las Vegas Rape Crisis Center, is glad to see parole and probation preparing to enforce lifetime supervision of sex offenders.

"Lifetime supervision definitely is necessary because most sex offenders are repeat offenders," she said. "This gives (law enforcement) more leverage in dealing with these crimes."

Others say the law is the product of the Nevada Legislature taking a tough posture on the emotional issue of child molestation regardless of whether it can be enforced.

Sex offenses against children "is the sweetheart issue of the 1990s and this law is an offshoot of Megan's Law," said Clark County Deputy Public Defender Joe Abood, referring to 7-year-old Megan Kanka of New Jersey who in 1991 was raped and strangled by a paroled convict in her neighborhood.

"But what does lifetime supervision really mean? To an overburdened parole and probation officer it could wind up being a phone call where he asks 'Are you working? Have you stayed out of trouble? Talk to you next month.' "

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, questions whether it is appropriate to impose lifetime parole supervision on people who do not receive life sentences.

"This is a concern for the ACLU because it raises several (constitutional) questions," he said. "Not to minimize sexual offenses like rape and child molestation, but clinical studies don't support that someone who commits those crimes will do it again.

"This was not well thought out. In just reading the statute, it appears heavy-handed and does not appear to fit its purported purpose."

Nevada prison records show there are now 219 sex offense inmates who one day will be required to undergo lifetime parole supervision. In all, there are 1,115 sex offenders in Nevada prisons - 11.7 percent of the 9,500-plus inmate population.