Evening star., 1947-04-09
By Jerry O'Lesry, Jr.

.-HdfTtS-Etrt1g ana AP PHOtOS.
apply to habitual sex offenders the same
laws applicable to insane persons.
Only four States California, Mime
sofa. Michigan and ulinois-now have
laws providing for the indeterminAte
commitment to special institution, or
to noncorrectional institution, Of per-
sons convicted Of sex offenses who are
found to be suffering from q psyche
pathic personality as distinguished from
psychosis, or insanity.
Speaking Of the sex psychopath laws
In those four States, one commentators
remarked, cit is indicative Of growing
desire on the part of legislators to get
at the root Of antisocial behavior by the
utilization Of such scientific knowledge
as is available"
AS the situation stands today In the
Nations Capital, there are neither ade-
quate laws or procedures to insure sex
offenders treatment in an institution
equipped to help or restrain them, or to
prevent their swift return to society
when they are likely to repeat their of
fenSeS.
Under the present law, a boy who CONF
mits q sex offense Tor the first time, il
he is under 16 years, is the responsibility
OF Judge Bentleys court. Brought to her
by police, the offender is given psychic
atric and psychological examinations at
both Juvenile Court and Gallinger Hos
pital. II the boy is found insane-as sex
offenders almost never are-Judge Bent
ley can recommend his disqualification.
But diagnosis that the boy is sex
psychopath but not insane leaves Judge
Bentley no choice but to send him to the
National Training School for Boys or
one Of the Districts institutions
Between the ages Of 16 and Is, how
ever, boy can be sent to Federal
Court for action through Judge Bentley's
power to waive Jurisdiction In that age
group. There, under court auspices, the
Commission on Mental Health could rec
ommend his commitment to o mental
hospital but only If he were found to
be insane within the laws conception OF
insanity. II sent to correctional institu-
tion, however, there Is nothing to prevent
the youthful sex offender from being
paroled.
Harold E. Hegstrom, director Of the
National Training School, said sex
psychopath could be as dangerous as q
wild fire in an open-type institution like
the NTS and could not be tolerated
among the other boys.
Their Release Is Automatic.
Such boy was Robert l.. Coombes,
the 17-year-old Maiden, Mass, youth
who was twice paroled from an open
type institution after committing sex
offenses and now Is accused Of the
murder Of 11-year-old Jacqueline Max
well. He was released from the reform
school over the protest Of his parents.
In the District, statistics reveal that
there are a number Of known young
men, now past the automatic reform
school release age OF 81, who were origi-
nally committed for sex offenses. Not
being held insane, their release cannot
be prevented when they reach the age
of 81.
This contingency, however, applies
only to boys who were committed to
reform school for a sex offense before
they were Is, since boys over that age
can be sent to Jail for felonious crimes.
Juvenile officials readily recalled
the Districts worst case OF juvenile sex
offenders-taat Of Joseph Hockenberry
and Daniel Reedy. These two WASH
ington boys, with long records OF serious
juvenile delinquency, escaped from
Gallinger Hospitals criminal psyche
pattic ward in January, 1914, while
officials were still puzzling over what
to do with them.
They fed to Alabama where they
kidnapped three women and criminally
assaulted two Of them. For the crimes,
they were hanged.
Reedy was considered serious de-
linquent at the National Training School
at the age OF 18. Mr.. Hegstrom said
Reedy was sent to st. Elizabeths for
disqualification but was released on
writ and promptly was ordered back
to the National Training School, which
could neither cure him nor segregate
him.
To keep him away from the other
boys, Reedy was sent to Gallinger. The
Alabama crimes closely followed his
escape with Hockenberry. eve knew
Reedy was dangerous" Mr.. Hegstrom
declared, "but there was absolutely
nothing we could do"
District laws give youthful and po-
tentially dangerous sex offenders the
same punishment and opportunity for
freedom that are open to window
fSrct SIHaI