Martin Raatz
CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – The recidivism rate for sex offenders is high. Once someone is so depraved to sexually abuse another, they are very likely to do it again.
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections studied the issue in 2010. The findings: A decade after being released from prison, 38% of sex offenders re-offended. After 15 years, the recidivism rate rose to 47%. Child sex offenders are even more likely to be repeat offenders. And their crimes are more heinous, since their victims are more easily manipulated into silence.
These statistics should have been considered in the case of Martin Raatz.
In 2015 he was charged with repeated sex acts against a minor. He reached a plea bargain and agreed to certain terms if he should ever be paroled: No contact with minors, no access to social media, no use of online dating sites.
The judge who approved parole should have considered the sky-high recidivism rates.
Raatz is now charged with three felony counts of having sexual intercourse with another minor. Court records indicate there are at least two additional victims. They are under the age of 13.
Now he’ll have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and will be subject to lifetime supervision.
When setting bail, state law requires that the amount be high enough to insure that the accused appear for future court dates. Bail can take into account the possibility of the defendant committing more crimes while awaiting trial. But bail cannot be used to punish. Bail is at the beginning, not the end, of the legal process. The accused isn’t convicted of anything yet.
But parole is different. Martin Raatz already entered a guilty plea to an earlier crime. He was let out of jail early, and he is accused of re-offending.
Currently he’s in the Taylor County jail awaiting further proceedings.
But there’s something about his case file that disturbs me. There’s a court order that says he must report to ATTIC Correctional Services within one business day of release. There he’d be fitted for an ankle bracelet and be tested for drugs. Within one day of release? Seriously. He violated his parole; he’s accused of ruining more young lives; how can he ever be allowed to walk among us, or our children?
Chris Conley
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