Sex Offender Management Board presents recidivism analysis; committee questions access to prison-based treatment and indeterminate sentencing

The Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) presented the first phase of a recidivism study to the Joint Judiciary Committee on Jan. 29, reporting lower rates of sexual-offense recidivism among people who successfully complete approved treatment and higher recidivism rates among those with unsuccessful discharges.

Dr. Rachel Colley, a staff researcher with the board, summarized a matched analysis of provider data and criminal records for 1,004 people discharged from offense-specific treatment between October 2019 and Jan. 1, 2024. The final analytic sample included 858 adult community clients, 101 adults treated in Department of Corrections (DOC) facilities and 45 juveniles.

The study's headline findings: among adult community clients with a three-year follow-up, sexual-offense charges and convictions were under 1% at one year and about 2% at three years for charges; violent recidivism was higher (about 4.5% at one year and 8.4% at three years). Dr. Colley emphasized that successful treatment discharge was associated with significantly lower recidivism than unsuccessful…