Sex Offenders
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In “The Truth About Repeat Sex Offenders” (Commentary, May 5), Franklin Zimring takes Gov. Pete Wilson to task for claiming that there is a 75% recidivism rate within two years after release from prison. Zimring states that this is contrary to the Department of Corrections statistics, citing a 26% two-year recidivism rate for lewd conduct offenders. I do not purport to be an expert in these statistics, but any statistics I have seen indicate a much higher recidivism rate for child molesters.
I find it puzzling that Zimring equates the recidivism rates for lewd conduct offenders with that for child molestation. His argument that “the usual charge at conviction for child molesters is lewd conduct” does not logically indicate that these statistics are interchangeable. Lewd conduct includes actions other than child molestation and certainly covers less serious crimes.
Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume that reduction of a charge from child molestation to lewd conduct is more likely to occur in cases where the crime is a less serious one, or where the case is not as strong.
MARVIN S. BEITNER
Long Beach
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