Legislation Would Allow Commitment Of Sex Offenders

News On 6

UNDATED -- An Oklahoma legislator is proposing a measure that would let juries send convicted sex offenders to a mental institution after they serve their sentence.

Republican Representative John Trebilcock says his plan was prompted by cases like that of David Earls, who was sentenced to only a year in prison for raping a four-year-old girl in Pittsburg County as part of a plea agreement.  Other people came forward later, saying Earls had a long history of child abuse.

Trebilcock says he modeled it after laws in Kansas and New York. He says courts have ruled that double jeopardy doesn't apply because the commitment is not a punishment, but a treatment.