Watkins did not respond to phone calls or emails. In 1994 Healey filed for a certificate of rehabilitation and pardon in Santa Clara County Superior Court. But court-appointed psychiatrist Douglas Harper seemed skeptical of Healey's motives for obtaining the rehabilitation certificate. Upon questioning, Healey acknowledged that the certificate would allow him to make contact with the boy he molested in 1982. Healey explained that in Alcoholics Anonymous, the ninth step suggests that members make amends with the people they have hurt.
Impulse control is adequate.
Insight is limited. Ultimately, Harper didn't recommend Healey for a rehabilitation certificate, saying he needed more information. After all, just three years ago, Gov. Pete Wilson and the state Legislature approved chemical castration for twice-convicted child molesters. Dr. Stewart B. Nixon, a Palo Alto psychologist who specializes in treating sex offenders, says that the California justice system has all but given up on rehabilitating child molesters despite the fact that there's not enough room to keep all convicted pedophiles behind bars. Some like Leo Healey return to the world and try to lead productive lives.