Committee examines sex offender discharge

Published 9:48 am Thursday, February 16, 2012

 

ST. PAUL  — Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson is defending her decision not to oppose the provisional discharge of a man who spent nearly 19 years in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.

Sixty-four-year-old Clarence Opheim is the first civilly committed sex offender to receive a court-ordered provisional discharge in Minnesota.

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Last year, Jesson and others had opposed his provisional discharge, but they changed their minds after receiving new information about his case. Opheim will soon move to a halfway house, where his every movement will be monitored.

Jesson and others say Opheim meets the criteria for provisional discharge under the law.

Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe, says maybe the law needs to be changed. He says sex offenders should be locked up for life with no chance for parole, or face the death penalty.