Eight weeks before a convicted sex offender was charged with killing his ex-girlfriend, a judge ordered him to be supervised by the Ulster County, N.Y., Probation Department, says the Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal. But because of what one official called a “perfect storm” of unfortunate circumstances, Curtis remained unsupervised in the weeks leading to the murder of Robin Conroy, 29. Curtis now is in jail charged with murder.
District Attorney Donald Williams acknowledged that a “crack in the system” had enabled Curtis, a Level 3 sex offender, to be released from jail without supervision after the September rape arrest. “It is a tragedy in the worst form,” the district attorney said. “It was a breakdown in the system across the board. This case fell into one of the smallest of cracks involving every agency connected to criminal justice, but it simply cannot be permitted to happen again.” The Journal examines the case,. which the newspaper says “exemplifies the legal issues judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys face as they weigh the rights of defendants against society’s obligation to protect its citizens from sex offenders and other potentially dangerous criminals.
Link: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051211/NEWS05/512110347/1009