Nearly two and a half years ago, the Kimball community was on edge because a level 3 sex offender was about to be released into the community. After serving his time in prison, Shawn Fletcher was indeed released Oct. 8, 2001, to live in a private home between Kimball and South Haven. Fletcher has since been incarcerated again – for violating his parole, not for re-offending. His re-release date was originally last December, but it has been moved back. He has been transferred to Stearns County Jail, but his release date of March 13 is on hold pending a commitment hearing on March 30. Fletcher meets all the criteria for commitment – a new way for the state to deal with its most dangerous sex offenders. According to Minnesota Statute ? 253B.185, anyone who has been determined by a court to be a “sexually dangerous person” may be involuntarily committed. Criteria include a history of “harmful sexual conduct”; it must be shown that the individual has a sexual, personality or other mental disorder or dysfunction; and it must be proven that the person is likely to engage in future acts of harmful sexual conduct. Once a commitment decision is finalized, the individual is turned over to the custody of the Commissioner of Human services for an indeterminate period of time. The patient may petition for review of his or her case every six months. Unlike the prison system with a fixed sentence, the committed individual must demonstrate that he or she is no longer dangerous or in need of treatment to be considered for release. Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall said both Fletcher’s psychological diagnosis and his behaviors meet the criteria for commitment, and the Fletcher case will be the first in the county to test the new system. “He’s the strongest one we’ve seen yet [for commitment],” said Kendall. The Minnesota Attorney General’s office has offered to handle the commitment hearing. They have more practice at it, and they will do it at no extra charge to the county. Fletcher’s hearing begins March 30, and a judge will have 30-60 days to make a ruling once the hearing is completed. If committed, Fletcher will be sent to the state facility in St. Peter indefinitely. If commitment is not deemed appropriate, there will be a full community notification before he is released into any community – just as was done in October 2001. Fletcher is now 28. He was convicted of one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in 1997. His four known victims, all girls, were all acquaintances between the ages of 12 and 18. “Mr. Fletcher isn’t going anywhere for awhile,” said Kendall, emphatically. Stearns County is not the first to try to commit dangerous sex offenders who have otherwise served their prison time, but Kendall is at the forefront of a movement to keep our communities safe. Shari Burt, the media relations contact for the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) added that it can be unwise to focus on a single offender in the community. There are offenders – both known and unknown to the law – already in our communities. She advised us not to feel false security because Fletcher is still in jail when there are other threats all around us. The DOC provides a Web site where the status of anyone within the DOC system can be checked. It is http://info.doc.state.mn.us/p/publicviewer/.
