The case of admitted and convicted child molester Brian DeVries
raises many troubling questions. Here
’s a man, a societal pariah, who has served his time, has
completed a state program for sexually violent predators and who,
constitutionally, must be released.
The case of admitted and convicted child molester Brian DeVries raises many troubling questions.
Here’s a man, a societal pariah, who has served his time, has completed a state program for sexually violent predators and who, constitutionally, must be released.
The problem is that, understandably, no one wants DeVries in their community. Who can blame them? The man apparently claims to have molested 50 children. The recidivism rates among child molesters is alarmingly high. Although DeVries has been surgically castrated, that procedure only takes away one means of molesting victims; the desire frequently remains and alternate means are always available. Victims of child molesters bear emotional and psychological – and sometimes physical – scars for the rest of their lives.
No one wants Brian DeVries for a neighbor – especially not Morgan Hill, despite the Department of Mental Health’s stealthy efforts to place him on West Main Avenue near several churches, schools, parks, the YMCA and the library.
Department of Mental Health policy (not state law, it’s important to note) may be to release sexually violent predators into the community in which they committed their crimes, but we don’t see how Morgan Hill qualifies. As City Councilman Larry Carr pointed out, “(DeVries) has no connection to Morgan Hill.”
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Robert Baines was correct to direct Department of Mental Health employees to widen their search for a suitable location to include the entire state of California. A sparsely populated community with few children, where a newcomer will stand out like a sore thumb sounds like an appropriate spot. There’s nothing like that in Santa Clara County.
Department of Mental Health officials should also be ashamed that they tried to pull a fast one on the Morgan Hill community by sneaking DeVries into town without letting anyone know. Until someone leaked the news, no one in town – not the police, city leaders, school officials and especially DeVries’ potential neighbors on West Main Avenue – knew that the convicted sexual predator might be headed to Morgan Hill. Our city owes a debt of gratitude to whoever leaked the DMH’s sneaky plans.
We don’t know how to answer the larger issue the DeVries case raises: what to do with convicted sexual predators after they have finished their sentences. Megan’s Law, which attempts to track sexual offenders, is a step in the right direction, but has many loopholes, tracking offenders is difficult, and is just not enough for offenders of DeVries’ level.
We’ll be watching DeVries’ next hearing, slated for June 27, to see where Judge Baines and the Department of Mental Health place him. But this much is easy: Clearly, DeVries doesn’t belong in Morgan Hill or South Valley.
