Posted on: Thursday, March 3, 2005

Rapist to remain off Web registry

By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer

A 45-year-old man convicted of raping a woman when he was 17 and later convicted of man-slaughter won't have to have his name, photo and background on the Megan's law public Web site, a state judge ruled for the second time yesterday.

City prosecutors wanted Circuit Judge Richard Perkins to reconsider his ruling last month denying their request to place Clarence W.K. English on the sex offender registry for the protection of the public.

But Perkins said no new information was presented to him yesterday, and he stood by his earlier ruling.

English was excused from attending the hearing, but his lawyer Scott Collins later said his client is "very elated and relieved."

"He's trying to put closure on that chapter of his life," Collins said. "His concern is not for him, but his family."

City Deputy Prosecutor Rowena Sommerville said she was disappointed.

"This just goes to show you that it's not an automatic guarantee that people will go on the Internet and judges have vast discretion," she said.

English is among the 2,100 convicted sex offenders in Hawai'i. Because of a Hawai'i Supreme Court ruling, each offender must be given a chance to object before a judge prior to being listed on the public Web site.

Since last year, city and Neighbor Island prosecutors have been filing individual requests to place offenders on the site.

Last year, Hawai'i residents approved a state constitutional amendment that essentially lets the state Legislature decide which offenders would get hearings and under what circumstances could they object.

State lawmakers are now reviewing various proposals. One advocated by the law enforcement coalition would eliminate hearings until the offenders have been listed on the public Web site for 10 to 40 years.

Yesterday was the first time city prosecutors asked for a reconsideration.

Sommerville said about five requests for postings have been denied, but more than 65 have been granted.

English was convicted of the first-degree rape of a 24-year-old woman in 1977, served four years in prison and was later convicted of misdemeanors and traffic offenses before he was convicted of manslaughter for stabbing a man in 1989. He served a 10-year term.

English has dealt with his alcohol and drug problems that had gotten him into trouble in the past, and since his release from prison five years ago, he has become a church-going man and a better father and husband, Collins said.

Perkins ruled that under the current law, a convicted sex offender is presumed to be dangerous, but once the offender rebuts that presumption (as English did at the previous hearing), then the state must establish that the offender is dangerous.

No new evidence was presented by the prosecutors to establish dangerousness in English's case, the judge ruled.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at 525-8030 or kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.