Iowa Supreme Court says sex offenders’ rights not violated by wait for treatment

The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a district-court decision that the state is not wrongfully denying liberty to sex offenders who aren’t eligible for parole because they haven’t been able to get into a required treatment program in Iowa’s prison system.

The opinion filed Tuesday said the Iowa Department of Corrections has not violated the Constitutional rights of seven men held at the Newton Correctional Facility for sex-related crimes. Further, the prison system hasn’t intentionally withheld sex offender treatment to keep the men in prison longer, the court found.

“The problem is simply one of numbers: there are more male sex offenders in Iowa’s prison system than SOTP (sex offender treatment program) spots available,” Justice Edward Mansfield wrote.

“The DOC has been actively addressing the need for sex offender treatment by increasing the number of classes and counselors. The existing waiting list, which prioritizes admission to treatment based on tentative discharge date, is a reasonable way to decide when an offender gets admitted to treatment.”

The petitioners — Kyle Cross, Anthony Gomez, Raymond LaBelle, James Hall, Kelly Sand, Shane Millett and Travis Bomgaars — are considered low-risk or low-moderate risk to reoffend, which means they qualify for one track of sex offender treatment. That track has a waiting list of more than 400 people, the court’s opinion states.

Typically, the treatment starts about 18 months before the offender’s scheduled release date, but if there are no open spots in the program, it can delay parole, the petitioners claimed.

“In particular, the petitions alleged that the DOC had created a ‘silent mandatory minimum sentence’ by not making SOTP available until a male inmate was nearing his tentative discharge date, knowing full well that the Board would not consider an inmate for parole until treatment is complete,“ the opinion states.

The state says it added more sex offender treatment program counselors last year and was trying to reduce the wait time to get into the program. The state also argued the case wasn’t “ripe” because several of the petitioners weren’t scheduled to be released for some time.

The Jan. 30, 2020, ruling in Jasper County District Court rejected the men’s gender discrimination claim, saying that because so many more men needed sex offender treatment it wasn’t fair to compare their wait times.

The Iowa Legislature earlier this year allocated an extra $20 million to the Iowa Corrections Department.

The funding boost followed the March murders of two staff at the Anamosa State Penitentiary by two offenders. Union officials said the attack was related to understaffing. Iowa OSHA found the prison didn’t have adequate radios for staff.

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