Sexually Violent Predators and Civil Commitment

February 1998:

A Study of the Characteristics and Recidivism of Sex Offenders Considered for Civil Commitment But for Whom Proceedings Were Declined

Executive Summary:
Washington State law provides for the civil commitment of extremely dangerous sex offenders. The Sexually Violent Predator statute (RCW 71.09.020) and the filing standards developed by the Washington State Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (WAPA) establish explicit requirements necessary to initiate civil commitment proceedings on an individual.

This study describes the 61 adult offenders who were referred for possible commitment as predators but for whom such petitions for civil commitment were not filed, during the first six years after the law's passage (July 1990 through June 1996). The decision not to file on these individuals occurred because the county prosecutor (or the attorney general) determined that one or more of the statutory requirements could not be proven. The subsequent criminal behavior of these 61 offenders was tracked in official records for the time period following their release from custody.

Key Findings
Recidivism. This study examined arrests and convictions following release from prison. A technique known as "survival analysis" was used to analyze these rates, controlling for the difference in lengths of follow-up, which varied from 5 to 70 months, with a mean of 46 months.

During this period, more than one-half of the group were rearrested. The highest percentage of offenders were rearrested for nonsexual crimes.

· 59 percent were arrested for one or more new offenses
· 28 percent were arrested for new sex offenses
· 15 percent were arrested for violent felony offenses
· 33 percent were arrested for nonviolent felony

For the remainder of this paper: by Donna Schram, Ph.D. and Cheryl Darling Milloy, Ph.D.

Sexual Predator Civil Commitment: A Comparison of Selected and Released Offenders

2004:

Abstract:
This study compared two groups of sex offenders who were considered for civil commitment under Florida’s Jimmy Ryce Act: Two hundred twenty-nine sex offenders who were recommended by forensic evaluators to be civilly committed and 221 sex offenders who were recommended for release.

It was hypothesized that selected offenders would be more likely to display risk factors for sex offense recidivism than those who did not meet criteria. Data analyses revealed that selected offenders, as a group, scored significantly higher on actuarial risk assessment instruments.

There were also significant differences between the groups on other risk factors that have been empirically correlated with sexual recidivism. Selected offenders had higher frequencies of paraphilia diagnoses and antisocial personality.

These findings supported the hypotheses and suggested that evaluators are correctly selecting for civil commitment those sex offenders who have a mental abnormality predisposing them to sexual violence and who are at higher risk for reoffense. by Levenson, J.S. (2004). Sexual predator civil commitment: A comparison of selected and released offenders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 48(6), 638-648.