Iowa Releases Male Sex Offender After State Finds Transitioning To Woman Made Him Low Risk

You guys!!  This story is so outrageous and, frankly, unbelievable.

Joseph Matthew Smith is a 23-year-old convicted sex offender from Iowa.  He is believed to have assaulted 15 people, with the victims being between the ages of 1 to 13.  He was sentenced to prison at the end of 2015.  After serving his sentence, Smith was moved for an indefinite period of time to a Civil Commitment Unit for Sexual Offenders.

He is now free because he was deemed a low risk of reoffending due to the fact that he is transitioning to a woman.

Smith began identifying as a woman in 2017 and now goes by “Josie”.

The Des Moines Register is reporting,

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office is no longer seeking the commitment of a former Midwest Christian Services student convicted of myriad sex crimes because the individual now identifies as a woman.

Court records show the state dismissed the application on Jan. 9. Attorney general spokesman Lynn Hicks wouldn’t comment on the reason for the dismissal other than to say, “an offender’s hormone levels are an important part of substantiating an offender’s likelihood of recidivism.”

Hicks also said, “We don’t believe we have evidence sufficient to prove Josie Smith has a significant chance of reoffending”.

So many thoughts people!

First, appropriating womanhood is apparently now a get out of jail free card.

Also, would state experts, who are convinced that he/she is no longer a high risk, leave their child alone with him?  And what stops Joseph/Josie from stopping hormone treatment and ending the whole transition?  Would that not make him high risk again?

We have always been told that sex crimes are really crimes about power, not sex.  But now we are being told it is about sex drive.  Which is it?

Plus, is anyone concerned that we may now have a surge in male offenders wanting to transition to female?  This is very possible since that would apparently grant them freedom.  And the state would be paying for a lot more gender transition treatments.

The state had been holding Smith in the Civil Commitment Unit since the state’s expert had found him to have a high likelihood of reoffending.  He was being kept at the Cherokee Civil Commitment Unit for Sex Offenders indefinitely.  However, Smith was released once they decided his likelihood of reoffending was much lower once he began transitioning. His risk was lowered primarily because he no longer had a man’s sex drive.

Dr. Tracy Thomas, who is a former director of the Civil Commitment Unit, said the law requires that the state, “essentially prove an offender has a chance offending greater than 51% for the rest of his life.”  The state determined that they could not prove that since Smith’s lowered testosterone level significantly lowered his sex drive.

What is this Civil Commitment for Sexual Offenders?  The Iowa Department of Human Services outlines the basics of the program.

Purpose

The Civil Commitment Unit for Sexual Offenders (CCUSO) provides a secure, long-term, and highly-structured setting to treat sexually violent predators (SVP) who have served their prison terms, but who, in a separate civil trial, have been found likely to commit further violent sexual offenses.

The program was created by the 1998 Sexually Violent Predators Act of Iowa to provide secure, inpatient treatment for sexual offenders who are believed to be a high risk for sexually re-offending. Inpatient treatment is indefinite, with the length of commitment dependent upon the time required for each individual to complete the criteria for advancement through five (5) treatment phases.

So, the state maintains that since Smith does not have male levels of testosterone, they can no longer prove he is a Sexually Violent Predator.

Although Smith has been released, he is still listed as a sex offender for the rest of his life.  He also has to regularly meet with a probation officer.

Notably, Smith is listed as a male.

Aside from the craziness of getting released just because Joseph is now Josie, a huge problem in this story is the short initial prison sentence. The risk of reoffending should not be the primary determining factor in when a sex offender is released back into society.  What about retribution for the crimes committed?  Justice for the victims?  This man should have been sentenced to a VERY LONG prison term.  He was not.  Instead, he had a relatively short prison term and then went into this whole Civil Commitment Unit NONSENSE.   It is crazy to have the state divining, apparently using their crystal ball, whether a rapist will rape again.

What are your thoughts?