The Jimmy Ryce Act was passed in 1998 as a result of the kidnapping, sexual battery and murder that was committed in 1995. In 1995, a handyman named Juan Carlos Chavez approached a 9 year-old boy walking home from school in Miami-Dade County. The defendant pulled a gun on the child, forced him into his truck at gun point and then raped and murdered the child. Chavez was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty in 1998. As a result of this heinous crimes, the Florida legislature created the act allowing the civil commitment of defendants charged and convicted of sexual offenses. After a defendant serves out the sentence for the criminal act, he or she can be confined at a locked facility where they receive treatment until they are released. Sexual offenders will only be released after they are no longer deemed a threat to society. The civil commitment laws only apply to those who enter pleas or are convicted by a jury of sexually violent crimes.
The Department of Children and Family Services ("DCF") is in charge of running the Florida's Sexually Violent Predator Program. When a defendant is close to completing a prison sentence, DCF will review the case and determine if civil confinement is appropriate. Prior to making that determination, the defendant convicted of a violent sex offense will meet with mental health professionals. Once DCF determines that civil confinement is desired, a defendant must be found to be a sexually violent predator likely to re-offend either by way of a civil trial or by a voluntary entry into the program. Defendants are entitled to counsel in Jimmy Ryce actions. In fact, the public defender's office has a team of Miami criminal attorneys representing individuals been examined for civil commitment.
Presently, there are approximately 673 detainees in the Sexually Violent Predator Program. The number of defendants confined in the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia, Florida continues to grow year after year. The DCF has contracted GEO Care, Inc. to maintain and operate the center. The cost to run the center is extremely high, with a budget in excess of $25 million per year. The cost to house a single predator is about $36,000 per year which is more than double to care for an a regular state prisoner. Different sides argue that the program is too expensive while the other side says that the protection of the community has no price tag. From the inception of the center, no prisoners were released until 2005. Since that time, 31 committed defendant have completed the treatment and have been released back into the community.
All defendants charged with sex offenses or sexually motivated offenses should try to retain criminal law firms that have experience in defending these types of crimes. While a plea at first blush may seem like the way to resolve a case, especially if the amount of incarceration is limited, however, a defendant may not be released if he or she enters a plea into an offense that subjects them to civil confinement. That being the case, not only is the sentence that a person receives important, but more importantly is the offense for which that person enters a plea.
Grisly Attack on 9 Year-Old Sparked Florida's Effort to Put Away Sex Predators, The Florida Times-Union Jacksonville.com, June 27, 2010
