NEWS

September 7, 2007
600 Iowa inmates awaiting sex offender treatment

Newton, Ia. – Iowa’s prison system is trying to cope with more than 600 convicted sex offenders on waiting lists to receive sex offender treatment – a number that’s been surging because of tougher laws and criminal prosecutions, a state official said Friday.

James Carter, superintendent of the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility, said 288 sex offenders are now receiving treatment at his prison after having committed crimes ranging from rape to child molestation.

The waiting list includes 573 convicts who need to receive a standard sex offender treatment program, which lasts 16 to 18 months, Carter told the Iowa Board of Corrections, which met Friday at the Newton Correctional Facility.

The Mount Pleasant prison also hosts sex offender treatment programs for convicts with short-term sentences; for Spanish-speaking inmates; and for those with special needs, such as developmental disabilities, or learning problems. These programs have 36 inmates on their waiting lists.

Corrections Board Chairwoman Robyn Mills of Johnston frowned after hearing Carter’s comments, especially the large number of convicts who need treatment in the standard sex offender treatment program.

“Those 573 on the waiting list trouble me,” Mills said.

Carter and other prison officials said they are working to address the issue.

“Our goal is to get all of them through treatment before they are discharged, or through a portion of that” treatment, Carter said.

There are plans to add 50 beds for sex offender treatment at Mount Pleasant within the next couple of months, Carter said. In addition, if a proposal is approved to transfer 100 female inmates from Mount Pleasant to an expanded Mitchellville state prison, the women’s beds at Mount Pleasant would be converted to provide space for an additional 100 men to receive sex offender treatment there, he said.

Deputy Iowa Corrections Director Jeanette Bucklew said it’s important to recognize that almost 200 of the inmates on the waiting list for sex offender treatment are not currently eligible to participate in treatment because they have long sentences.

When only inmates who will be released over the next five years are counted on the waiting list, the list is closer to 400 inmates, Bucklew said.

The Mount Pleasant prison is the Iowa Department of Corrections’ only institution for sex offender treatment. Counselors work with inmates to learn appropriate and responsible social and sexual behavior. The program helps offenders accept responsibility, institute change, and to manage sexually deviant thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors, officials said.

The Mount Pleasant prison currently houses 1,076 inmates who have committed a variety of crimes, although its population is projected to grow to nearly 1,200 inmates over the next 11 months. The prison’s annual budget is about $26 million.

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