Judge: Sex offender must remain under supervision

12-11-2014 Wisconsin:

A judge determined after a 4½-hour court trial Wednesday that Kerry Abbott, deemed a sexually violent person in 2001, will remain under supervision.

Abbott, 56, who has lived alone at a rural Arkansaw residence since July 2012, petitioned for discharge from supervision. A handful of psychological reports in recent years recommended he be released because he was abiding by conditions of his release and was not likely to reoffend.

Trempealeau County Judge John Damon, after reviewing Abbott’s lengthy list of sexual assaults and hearing a psychologist say Abbott was about 30 percent likely to reoffend if released, was not persuaded to release him.

“It’s a tool,” Damon said, referring to an actuarial (statistical calculation) that indicated Abbott would not likely reoffend. “This assessment tool isn’t meant to replace the judgment of the court as to what the risk is in the future. There would be no need for this hearing if all we had to do was spit this into an actuarial.”

Damon said the severity of Abbott’s offenses, along with a statement he made while under supervised release in 1994, that he may kill his next victim, factored into the judge’s decision.

“A 30 percent chance of recidivism that he might commit another sexual assault ... is a pretty high percentage,” he said.

Abbott’s attorney, Thomas Starr, was a bit stunned by the ruling.

“I was disappointed, obviously,” he said. “He had been evaluated by four or five different experts, and all of them concluded he was more likely not to reoffend; plus (there’s) the testimony that he’s received over 12½ years of treatment and doing very well. This points out the fact that judges are hesitant to release people in this situation.”

Richard Elwood, a psychologist from the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center near Mauston, testified that Abbott met the criteria for release, adding: “his risk is well below that required of the statute.”

Abbott suffers from a chronic schizoaffective disorder (schizophrenia and a mood disorder) that predisposes him to sexual deviancy, Elwood said, adding that proper medication has helped Abbott deal with that mental illness.

Abbott has been receiving great support from his family and planned to move to a relative’s rural Durand residence, in Dunn County, if he had been discharged.

Damon ruled in January 2012 that Abbott met criteria for supervised release.

Abbott, formerly of the Durand area, was deemed a sexually violent person in 2001 for a series of sexual assaults in Dunn and Pepin counties between 1979 and 1984. He has admitted to nine sexual assaults of females, including several while armed with knives or scissors. In two separate cases, he sexually assaulted a pregnant 27-year-old woman and a 41-year-old woman, each time with a young child present.

Abbott was conditionally released to a secure halfway house in a trailer park near Durand in 1994. In 1996 he went to Mendota Mental Health Institute near Madison after saying he might kill his next victim.

Devra Ayala, a state assistant attorney general who requested during the court trial that Abbott not be released, declined to comment after Wednesday’s hearing. ..Source.. by Chuck Rupnow

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