OH- REPORT TO THE OHIO CRIMINAL SENTENCING COMMISSION: SEX OFFENDERS

January 2006

INTRODUCTION
The effective management of sex offenders has been an ongoing concern for policymakers nationally. In summer 2005, the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission created a Penalty Review Subcommittee to examine the research and current statutes in Ohio to determine if there was a need for recommendations to improve Ohio’s management of sex offenders. The purpose of this report is to provide information on sex offenders in Ohio’s prisons and discuss what works in effectively managing this population.

The first section provides a statistical snapshot of the offenders in 1999 at Ohio’s Sex Offender Risk Reduction Center (SORCC), sentencing information for calendar year 2003 offenders, and length of stay information for sex offenders released from the system in the past five years. The data given is designed to provide background information for the review of policy.

The second section of the report is a discussion of what works based on 15 years of research on sex offender assessment, treatment, and recidivism. Canadian and British researchers have been trying to identify the characteristics of the “sexual predator,” or the sex offender who is violent and causes the most harm to society. Colorado has had a sex offender management and containment approach since 1992 when the legislature created the Sex Offender Management Board as an oversight board for policy. The Board has completed several research studies on the effectiveness of treatment and management of sex offenders. This research indicates that with effective treatment and close supervision of offenders in the community, steps can be taken to reduce the likelihood they will reoffend. Finally, research on recidivism is presented together with an Ohio study which followed a 1989 cohort of offenders for 10 years.

The final section looks at sex offender registration and notification nationally and in Ohio. The report highlights current research on the effectiveness of SORN legislation in implementing the policy purposes and reducing recidivism of sex offenders in the community. Information on program implementation in Ohio has also been provided. ..more.. by Office of Criminal Justice Services, Executive Director Karhlton F. Moore