Online child-porn offender released early for learning about computers
Dr. Kardasz: The following story by Pablo Ros is an interesting report of justice gone wacko. I am of the humble opinion that persons convicted of computer-related crimes should be directed towards vocations in prison training classes that do not involve computers. Similarly, drug offenders should not be trained towards careers in pharmacy or chemistry. There are many career options and fields of study. Offenders should not be permitted to choose training that is aligned with the offense that originally resulted in their incarceration.
Online child-porn offender released early for learning about computers
Pablo Ros, Tribune Staff Writer. 11/24/07
South Bend, Indiana - A 58-year-old convicted sex offender recently cut his prison sentence short by completing a course on computer repair.
Larry B. Abshagen had always had a computer at home, and his ex-wife said she couldn't fail to see the irony in his sentence reduction.
"He was very knowledgeable with computers," said his ex-wife, whom The Tribune is not naming to protect her identity. "He knew how to fix 'em, how to get on 'em. He didn't need to take a course on computer repair."
Abshagen was sentenced to four years in prison in August 2006 for sending child pornography over the Internet. With credit for time served, credit for good behavior and a vocational studies certificate in computer repair, Abshagen finished his sentence in fewer than two years. He was released in October.
Abshagen's ex-wife said she is upset that he was given an additional three-month break from an already mild sentence."I'm upset that they cut his sentence short because of (the computer course)," she said. She added that she's not opposed to prisoners receiving credit for completing courses that benefit them, such as earning a GED.
"Why train him on something he got in trouble for?" she said.
Karen Cantou Grubbs, communications chief at the Indiana Department of Correction, said all prisoners are eligible for educational courses.
"There is no filter process for assignment to academic, vocational, college programs in the IDOC," she wrote in an e-mail. "It is an open-entry process for all offenders. Threshold qualifications for assignment to vocational programs would be credit class, education code, and length of time left to serve."
The DOC's educational program stems from "the department's mandate to provide an environment designed to promote restoration and public safety," said Randy Koester, a DOC spokesman. "Advancing an inmate's education reduces the likelihood they will reoffend, and promotes public safety."Abshagen's ex-wife said she doesn't think Abshagen is more dangerous now after taking a computer course because he probably learned little from it that he didn't already know. In that way, Abshagen would be atypical of most sex offenders, according to John Shehan of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Shehan, who is deputy director of the NCMEC's exploited child division, said sex offenders "come from all walks of life" and have varying educational levels. But those who are most easily caught by law enforcement, he said, lack a sophisticated knowledge of computers.
"Normally they aren't Internet-savvy," he said.
When asked whether by taking a course on computer repair a sex offender might become better equipped to reoffend, Shehan said that by learning the basic workings of a computer -- such as how to remove a hard drive and destroy it -- a person could more easily get away with Internet crimes."It's an interesting question," Shehan said, but he did not express an opinion on whether sex offenders should be eligible to take computer courses in prison.
"It's the first I've ever heard of a case like that," he said.
But Parry Aftab, executive director of the online safety volunteer organization WiredSafety.org, said she doesn't think access to computer education in prison is an added risk.
"I think that learning how to fix a computer has no relationship whatsoever to predatorial behavior," she wrote in an e-mail. "I am concerned about inmates having Internet access while in prison, or unsupervised access while on probation. That poses a risk."
Koester said inmates are not allowed to access the Internet in prison. Using the Internet or any other online service at any location without approval of a probation officer is a violation of the Indiana recommended special probation conditions for sex offenders, which are found on the state's Web site, although they become case-applicable at a judge's discretion.
Jerry Johnson, chief probation officer of St. Joseph County's adult probation, said he doesn't know offhand how often that probation condition is applied here.
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