Issa to Newsom: Stop Placing Violent Sexual Predators Back in Our Communities
Washington – Today, Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48) sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom demanding an end to California’s Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) Conditional Release Program (CONREP), which places these dangerous felons into California communities.
An excerpt from the letter:
“Because SVPs have a diagnosed medical disorder, they are neither in treatment nor recovery. This is why SVPs as a matter of course remain in state custody after serving prison sentences and then entering secure treatment facilities. Under California's SVP program, they can petition the court to leave supervised care and be placed in local communities.
“According to a recent study by the American Psychological Association, nearly half of observed SVPs were returned to custody after violating release terms, and several committed additional sexually violent offenses upon release from inpatient facilities. Even one offense is too many, and by continuing a clearly failed program, California is endangering its communities.
“Governor, the SVP CONREP is broken. The continued placement of SVPs in our communities is a dangerous mistake, and I urge you to end this program.”
Read the full letter here.
The letter follows the recently planned placement of an SVP in the city of Poway. In response, Congressman Issa worked with Poway city officials and citizen leadership to block this placement successfully.
“I am incredibly proud of our Poway family. I knew we would send the message loud and clear that this monster does not belong here and that’s exactly what we did. We will never stop fighting to protect our community,” said Poway Deputy Mayor Caylin Frank.
Last year, Congressman Issa introduced the Stopping Sexually Violent Predators Act, which ends taxpayer funding for SVPs outside of correctional or secure medical facilities and requires states to report all convicted SVPs to the U.S. Department of Justice for review of potential federal charges.