Jail Time Down For Child Molesters

Idaho judges gave convicted child molesters probation twice as often between mid-1994 and mid-1995 as they did during the previous 12-month period, according to a new state report.

The annual report, released late Friday, found that of the 115 adult defendants convicted of child sexual abuse during the 12-month period, 20 percent were placed on probation.

In the previous 12 months, only 9 percent of the 163 convicted adults were placed on probation.

Judges also retained jurisdiction over more cases in the most recent period - 40 percent compared to 33 percent between mid-1993 and mid-1994.

In those cases, the adults go through a six-month program at the minimum-security prison in Cottonwood and then are re-evaluated by the sentencing judges, who can then place them on probation or make them serve prison terms.

Thirty-six percent the adults were sentenced directly to prison after conviction, the same percentage as during the previous year. But only 3 percent were jailed during the most recent period, just a quarter of the percentage the previous year.

There was no explanation in the report of why jail time was being imposed less frequently and probation or retained jurisdiction more often. But the state’s spiraling jail and prison populations have created severe overcrowding in state and local facilities.