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A 64-year-old pedophile who has been in the Minnesota Sex Offender program for 19 years will become the first patient it discharges.
The Star Tribune reported that a three-judge panel in Ramsey County decided to grant a provisional discharge to Clarence Opheim on Friday, after there was no objection from prosecutors or the Department of Human Services.
No one has been discharged from the program since it began in 1994, which shows the state's concern about releasing offenders who could be potentially dangerous.
Opheim, who was convicted in Hennepin County of criminal sexual assault of a teenage boy in the late 1980s, had been in the program since 1994.
Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson wrote to the court three weeks ago, saying she opposed Opheim's discharge. But according to a letter dated Friday, she changed her mind after reviewing a file addressing Opheim's progress in chemical dependency counseling.
"I cannot minimize the horrors of his past crimes, but the law is clear," Jesson told the Star Tribune. She said the sex-offender program has a plan in place and a provisional discharge should be granted.
"While the law talks about assuring the public a 'reasonable' degree of protection, we will make sure the safeguards go far beyond," she said. "We are going to be as careful as we can — if he strays from the provisions we will pull him back immediately."
The judges accepted discharge plans to move Opheim from a monitored residence at the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter, where he has been since 2009, to a halfway house in Minneapolis.
A formal order is expected next week, and Opheim could move within two months. The halfway house is staffed around the clock and licensed by the state Department of Corrections.
Opheim will have to wear an electronic ankle-bracelet and attend frequent Alcoholic Anonymous meetings and counseling at a therapy program for male sex offenders.
A 64-year-old pedophile who has been in the Minnesota Sex Offender program for 19 years will become the first patient it discharges.
The Star Tribune reported that a three-judge panel in Ramsey County decided to grant a provisional discharge to Clarence Opheim on Friday, after there was no objection from prosecutors or the Department of Human Services.
No one has been discharged from the program since it began in 1994, which shows the state's concern about releasing offenders who could be potentially dangerous.
Opheim, who was convicted in Hennepin County of criminal sexual assault of a teenage boy in the late 1980s, had been in the program since 1994.
Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson wrote to the court three weeks ago, saying she opposed Opheim's discharge. But according to a letter dated Friday, she changed her mind after reviewing a file addressing Opheim's progress in chemical dependency counseling.
"I cannot minimize the horrors of his past crimes, but the law is clear," Jesson told the Star Tribune. She said the sex-offender program has a plan in place and a provisional discharge should be granted.
"While the law talks about assuring the public a 'reasonable' degree of protection, we will make sure the safeguards go far beyond," she said. "We are going to be as careful as we can — if he strays from the provisions we will pull him back immediately."
The judges accepted discharge plans to move Opheim from a monitored residence at the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter, where he has been since 2009, to a halfway house in Minneapolis.
A formal order is expected next week, and Opheim could move within two months. The halfway house is staffed around the clock and licensed by the state Department of Corrections.
Opheim will have to wear an electronic ankle-bracelet and attend frequent Alcoholic Anonymous meetings and counseling at a therapy program for male sex offenders.
