A bridge as a last resort [Sex offender given sleeping bag and ordered to stay under bridge]

The Seattle Times ^ | 4/30/08 | Danny Westneat

[XR7]

SNOHOMISH — The patch under the bridge is closed in by brambles. Rodent tracks crisscross in the dirt. It may be dry, but still it's not fit for human habitation.

Unless you're a sex offender, that is.The underside of the 88th Street bridge, near this river town's greenhouses and horse farms, is where state government last week assigned a released rapist to sleep.

David J. Torrence, who assaulted a 16-year-old girl in 1995, had completed his latest prison term (for failing to register as a sex offender.) He had no place to go. So officials gave him a sleeping bag and a rain poncho, then told him to stay under this bridge, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., until further notice.

"We're not proud of it," says Mary Rehberg, parole officer for the state Department of Corrections. "We did it because this is what it has come to. Under a bridge is the best of the options we had left."

That we're now storing sex offenders under bridges is hardly the worst thing to happen in the long struggle over sex crimes. Not compared with what happened to the victims.

But it is a sign of a looming breakdown. There's got to be a better way.

Nobody wants sex offenders around. It can be infuriating to see taxes spent on their treatment or care. But putting them under bridges, like trolls? Set aside whether that's inhuman. It's about the worst outcome possible, for public safety.

Torrence was released from state prison at Monroe on April 20. He is a Level 3 — high risk for reoffending. He is not deemed so dangerous, or his crimes so serious, that he qualifies to be locked up longer.

Rehberg tried for months to find him a place to live.

He's barred by local ordinance...

[Reeses]

"Under a bridge is the best of the options we had left."

He should have been ordered to stay at a council-person's home until he found an opening... of one sort or another.

[Girlene]

Brilliant. They got three squares, a cot, heat and running water when serving their sentence. Turning them into street people sounds like a motivation to reoffend—traumatize another girl for life and get better living conditions.

Agreed. It is a real problem. Most homeless shelters won't accept sex offenders. They are very limited in being able to support themselves - who's going to hire a convicted sex offender? Even if they could afford a place to live, they are prevented from living in certain areas.

[livius]

. He is a Level 3 — high risk for reoffending. He is not deemed so dangerous, or his crimes so serious...

Yeah, being raped is really neat and the 16 year old should be happy she had the experience. If he's considered high risk, there's a better place for him than the bridge: jail. Rape used to be a capital crime, btw.

[livius]

The thugs who tortured and killed that family in Connecticut met in a group home. If you’ve ever lived near a group home for criminals in general or sex offenders in particular, you ‘d realize that this isn’t the answer. People with a “high risk of reoffending” (or habitual criminals, as were both of the thugs in Connecticut) belong in one place only: jail.

[XR7]

"He is a Level 3 — high risk for reoffending. He is not deemed so dangerous, or his crimes so serious, that he qualifies to be locked up longer."
Good Lord...where does one begin?

He has already ESCAPED.
A nationwide warrant has been issued.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews

Warrant issued for sex offender who dumped monitoring device at Lynnwood apartment

Snohomish County authorities and the Washington State Department of Corrections are searching for a Level 3 sex offender who cut off his GPS bracelet Wednesday night and tossed it at a Lynnwood apartment complex. He was released from prison this week. David J. Torrence, 43, who served a one-year sentence for failure to register as a sex offender, was on active supervision with the corrections department in Monroe. But that changed last night, when Torrence cut off his monitoring device, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office. The corrections department has issued a nationwide warrant for felony escape with no bail. In 1995, Torrence pleaded guilty in Snohomish County Superior Court to raping a 16-year-old girl...

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080429/NEWS01/107935135/0/FRONTPAGE

Rapist under bridge was placed near victim's home

David J. Torrence

SNOHOMISH -- The bridge where state officials told a high-risk sex offender to sleep after his release from prison earlier this month is less than five miles from the home of the woman he raped. Some of her children go to an elementary school blocks from the bridge. Another goes to the high school about a mile away. "I'm scared to be at my house now. I'm scared to go around town. I'm scared to run into him. I'm scared for my kids at school," said Sabrina, 29. She asked that her last name not be used. "I don't think he has anything to lose now, so who knows what he'll do." Police still are looking for David J. Torrence, 43, a level-3 sex offender released from prison on April 20. He was told by state parole officers to sleep below a bridge along 88th Street SW under U.S. 2 near Snohomish. Torrence is homeless. State Corrections Department officials determined the bridge was the best location for them to keep an eye on the convicted rapist while the search continued for more appropriate housing. Three days after his release, he cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet. Police on Thursday found the GPS system ditched near an apartment in Lynnwood.

____________________________________________________

.

Is it just me, or does reading this stuff make your blood boil?

[RainMan]

WA Ping

[dainbramaged]

This is common here in Washington state - these convicted perverts are registering as homeless upon release from custody and thus making tracking them difficult.

[RinaseaofDs]

Good old Washington State.

If I were Dino Rossi, I’d have a field day with this.

Here’s a notion - execute Level 3 sex offenders.

Not in a deep blue state with a fountain downtown that looks for all the world like a dedication to Man-Boy love.

[Republicus2001]

recently Los Angeles Chief of Police William Bratton stated “you can’t fight crime by arresting people” ...

[spunkets]

Re: But putting them under bridges, like trolls?

"LOL Why not?"...because htey're likely to grab some unsuspecting woman that approaches, or is in the neighborhood of the bridge.

They should have given him a spot under the lawn at a local cemetery.

[wideawake]

David Torrence has clearly worn out his welcome on this planet.

[LongElegantLegs]

Don't be a victim again, Sabrina.

[Froufrou]

That was what the woman in the article said. At the same time, you are suggesting more overcrowding for a penal system that is already bursting at the seams.

While I understand your sentiments and I don’t for an instant discount them, how different from a group home do you suppose it is that high percentages of sex offenders are apt. dwellers with roommates?

I would have thought in a group home there would be appropriate supervision. Evidently that was not the case in CT. Either that, or those thugs made their plans elsewhere.

[trussell]

That looks a whole lot like my birthday present!

[spunkets]

"...he’s fitted with a GPS tracking ankle device?"

Not anymore. See #25.

[XR7]

David Torrence has clearly worn out his welcome on this planet bracelet.

[ReformedBeckite]

I wonder if the bridge was the edge of the town limits and they were hoping he would camp out on the other side of the bridge, or walk away from town so as to become the county problem or someone elses county's problem.

[RinaseaofDs]

“Los Angeles Chief of Police William Bratton stated “you can’t fight crime by arresting people”

I have to see this in context. Do you have a source?

If this is the case, then we can save a ton of money by disbanding the police force.

Everybody packs, and that’s the end of it.

I suppose the courts may be of limited usefulness to in this man’s mind.

[Melas]

It’s not only inhumane, but it’s too stupid for words. Let’s give the guy a reason to want to go back to jail by making him sleep under a bridge. Jail probably seems like heaven by comparison.

[LongElegantLegs]

You got a Glock 27 for your birthday? I just got one for my anniversary!

Nothing says 'I love you' like a Glock. ;-)