On Christmas Eve, a man considered so dangerous and untreatable that sex offender programs in eight states have denied him admission will be freed from a Connecticut prison, the Hartford Courant reports.
With nowhere for Ransome Lee Moody, 52, a three-time convicted rapist, to go other than a homeless shelter, the Courant reports, there is pressure for state lawmakers to restore money for a new facility created to treat dangerous sex offenders when they get out of prison.
It looked last year, like the facility was a possibility. The state Legislature had approved creating a $2 million residential treatment center for sex offenders on parole or probation at a jail in Montville.
Fast-forward to 2009 and, officials say, it hasn't gone forward because of the state's budget deficit.
"It's a very significant gap in how the state provides the appropriate services for these kinds of defendants," Moody's public defender, James S. McKay, told the Courant. "And it's potentially dangerous for the public if the defendant doesn't get the benefit of the right services. Yes, it's expensive. But there are also costs for not doing it."
Michael Cicchetti, deputy secretary of the state Office of Policy and Management, told the Courant that departments have money and must set priorities.
"There's money in their budget, not as much as they would like, but every state agency is operating with less dollars," Cicchetti said. "It's really a question of how they want to use it. "
Moody is scheduled to go the Immanuel Baptist Homeless Shelter in New Haven, a place for indigent offenders with no other place to go after being released go for housing, the Courant reports.
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He is not guaranteed a bed there, the Courant reports.
