Miguel Olea held a 17-year-old girl in his room against her will for days, raping her repeatedly. He was sent to prison, then paroled on the condition that he avoid contact with minors. This year, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune, the state put him on a new budget-saving program called nonrevocable parole. He is one of 452 high-risk offenders excused from supervised parole this year, a group the state is now trying to get back in the fold. Their dismissal was the result of a recalibrated computer model that better accounted for certain risk factors.
The list of parolees being rounded up and returned to active supervision includes rapists, gang members, repeat wife-beaters and ex-felons found with guns. Even though the state has decided these offenders should be back on parole, they are immune from violations until they are formally returned. Officials do not know how long it will take to return them to active supervision or how many have been found. The freed parolees include 29 domestic-violence cases, four convicted rapists, 12 people convicted of illegally possessing firearms or other deadly weapons, and three street-gang members. Risk of reoffending is measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest risk. Those scoring above a 2 are supposed to be retained on active supervision. Of those excused from supervision, 77 scored a 5, 188 scored a 4 and 187 scored a 3.