Sex-offender recidivism rate revised to 16%

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

The attorney general's office has updated an estimate on sex offender recidivism in Hawai'i, telling the state House Judiciary Committee yesterday that 16 percent of the state's registered sex offenders have been convicted of new sexual assaults, not the 5.7 percent estimate it gave the committee last month.

The state Legislature is debating whether to expand the state's Internet registry of sex offenders after voters approved a constitutional amendment in November calling for greater access to information about sex offenders.

After the hearing yesterday, Kurt Spohn, a deputy attorney general, said the lower estimate only included offenders who committed new sex crimes severe enough that they would have to register with the state if it were their first offense.

The higher estimate covers sex offenders convicted of any new sex assault, regardless of its severity.

The Advertiser reported last week that the recidivism rate in Hawai'i challenges the public perception that sex offenders are much more likely than other criminals to commit new crimes. The report was based primarily on statistics from the state Department of Public Safety, although it also cited the estimate the attorney general's office had obtained from the Hawai'i Criminal Justice Data Center and given to the committee.

The Department of Public Safety had found that of the 746 adult felony sex offenders released from state prisons since 1988, 22, or 2.9 percent, had been convicted of new felony sex crimes.