Republican congressman calls for lifting governor’s sex offender suspension | News

WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Vista) has sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom calling for an end to California’s Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) Conditional Release Program (CONREP), which houses these dangerous felons in California communities.

“Because SVPs have been diagnosed with a medical disorder, they are neither in treatment nor in recovery. Therefore, after serving their prison sentence and subsequent stay in closed treatment facilities, SVPs naturally remain in state custody,” said Rep. Issa in a press release. “Under California’s SVP program, they can petition the court to leave supervised care and be placed in local communities.”

The US lawmaker recalled a recent study by the American Psychological Association, which found that nearly half of the SVPs observed were returned to custody after violating release conditions and several of them committed further sexual offenses after being released from inpatient treatment.

Even one offense is too many, and by continuing an obviously failed program, California is putting its communities at risk, Issa said.

“Governor, the SVP CONREP is broken,” the congressman said. “Continuing to place SVPs in our communities is a dangerous mistake, and I urge you to end this program.”

The letter follows the recent proposed placement of an SVP in Poway. In response, Congressman Issa worked with Poway city officials and the citizen action group to successfully prevent that placement, the lawmaker said.

“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 is exactly what we did,” said Poway Deputy Mayor Caylin Frank. “We will never stop fighting to protect our community.”

Last year, the congressman introduced the Stopping Sexually Violent Predators Act, which would end taxpayer funding of sexual violence against Predators outside of correctional facilities or closed medical facilities and require states to report all convicted sexual violence against Predators to the U.S. Department of Justice for possible federal charges.