It looks like hundreds of shopping malls scattered across California. There's a barbershop, post office, library, dentist's office and cafe. If it weren't for the Orwellian khaki uniforms and armed guards, it could be a mall in any town in California. But this mall is in Coalinga State Hospital, California's long-term treatment psychiatric facility for rapists and pedophiles. Most of the 762 patients will live here until they die. If you are charged with a violent sex crime, this could become your permanent home.
A little more than half of Coalinga's all-male population is comprised of sexually violent predators (SVP). About 1% of the sex offenders convicted in California are found to be SVPs. One third of the patients incarcerated at Coalinga have been convicted of rape. Half have been diagnosed as pedophiles and charged with at least one count of child molestation.
All of the inmates at this 3-year-old, state-of-the-art facility have already served a full sentence in state prison for committing one or more serious sex crimes, usually rape or child molestation. Under a 12-year-old state law, however, instead of being released at the fulfillment of their sentence, the state declared them to be SVPs and sent them to Coalinga. The passage of Jessica's Law in 2006 changed the original renewable 2-year internment into an indeterminate sentence. The majority of the inmates at Coalinga will never be allowed to leave.
Critics point out that the recidivism rate for felony sex offenders is well below that for other crimes. According to a 1994 Bureau of Justice study, only 3.5% of convicted sex offenders were rearrested for another sex crime within 3 years of their release from prison. Some say as many as 75% of the patients at Coalinga shouldn't be there. They say that public and political opinion has resulted in overly harsh laws against sex offenders and particularly child molesters.
California is tough on sex offenders. Understandably, citizens, prosecutors, judges and juries want sex offenders off the streets. But the current "tar and feather" atmosphere can cause the legal system to run amok. Innocent people can be convicted, those found guilty can be condemned to unconscionably harsh sentences, and those who have already paid their debt to society can have their rights trampled and be kept imprisoned in Coalinga. If you are being investigated for a sex crime, a criminal defense attorney experienced in the defense of sex crimes can make certain that your rights are protected and that you receive the best possible defense.
