Bill to monitor sex offenders sits idle -- MassTreatment Center

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Subject: Bill to monitor sex offenders sits idle

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Date Posted: 09:18:07 02/23/08 Sat

Gov. Deval Patrick�s public safety czar says a bill on hold in the Legislature would have mandated tighter supervision of serial sex offender David Flavell and possibly prevented his alleged stalking episode in a Braintree bookstore.
Public Safety Secretary Kevin Burke said the bill for mandatory post-release supervision would have given authorities the power to monitor Flavell and require him to seek treatment or return to prison if he violated certain conditions.
�We would have been able to measure his conduct, which is critical for every offender, and especially critical for sex offenders,� said Burke, noting the high rate of repeat offenses among sexual predators.
Flavell, 38, was released from state custody after Superior Court Judge Richard Moses ruled that he was not a �sexually dangerous person,� despite a two-page history of offenses. Flavell was arrested Tuesday after allegedly peeping at a woman under a bathroom stall in a Borders bookstore Jan. 29.
The post-release supervision bill filed by the Patrick administration would apply specifically to offenders like Flavell who fully serve their prison sentences and are released without mandatory supervision.
The bill imposes conditions similar to parole, requiring offenders to check in with public safety officers and avoid behaviors that led to their offenses in the past.
The Legislature�s Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the bill last fall, but the committee has not forwarded the bill to the House floor for a vote. Burke expects the bill to pass.
Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Tim Murray yesterday pledged that the state will continue to closely track sex offenders to ensure their history and whereabouts are accurately reported to authorities and the public.
Despite the controversy swirling around the Flavell case, the governor�s administration has no jurisdiction to review Moses� decision to release him. Only appellate courts can launch such a review upon petition of one the parties in the case, officials said.

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