Mentally ret*d Man Housed with Sex Offenders

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Man reportedly assaulted at State Hospital by sex offender

FARGO (AP) - A sex offender at the North Dakota State Hospital in Jamestown admits to molesting a patient there who has the mental capacity of a 5-year-old, and says the assault could have been prevented.

Rodney Ireland, 22, who was civilly committed to the hospital as a sexually dangerous person, said he takes full responsibility for abusing the 45-year-old man, who reportedly lives in the hospital's sex offender unit even though he is not a convicted sex offender.

"I believe that it's reckless for him to be here in the first place," Ireland said. "They move him from floor to floor, but he's still intermingling with sex offenders."

Hospital Superintendent Alex Schweitzer said he could not verify whether the victim or Ireland are living in the sex offender unit because of privacy rules. He said he could not talk specifically about "any issues regarding anything in regards to patient care."

The victim's father said the man has been at the State Hospital for 33 years. The father said that overall he is pleased with the care his son has received, but he is worried about his son's living arrangements because his diminished mental capacity makes him vulnerable to abuse.

Bill Kysar, 47, a convicted sex offender also civilly committed to the State Hospital, said he has advocated several times for the victim to be moved to a different unit.

"If we're so safe, then how come we're not out in the community?" Kysar said, referring to those in the sex offender unit.

The victim's father said that while his son is a large man who might be able to physically protect himself, he should be moved to a different unit because he is mentally vulnerable.

"I think they can find another unit for him if they try," he said.

Ireland, who faces a felony gross sexual imposition charge for the incident, said he also is lobbying for the man to be moved.

"It doesn't take away from the events that have occurred, but I'm pretty sure that they could have minimized the chances of this happening if they would have moved him to a more secure, more stable environment," he said.

http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles ... 146569.txt

So, um, the sex offender is blaming hospital officials for the rape he committed?

yeah, no kidding.
sad part is, he WOULD be partly right.
there is plenty of blame to go around.

Well, in a manner of speaking he's correct. He was quoted in another article in a politically conservative blog

-Ireland says it's "reckless" for the man to be in the unit. In his words "It would be naive to think that a pack of wolves wouldn't attack a wounded animal."-

http://lakeminnetonkaliberty.blogspot.c ... state.html

What a s***t place to put an adult with MR in the first place,he should not be in a pyschiatric institution for MR,there are far more suitable places.

That's horrible. But at least the guy fessed up to it...

What the hell would a mentaly ret*d person be doing in a place like that?

Like mentaly handicapped don't have enough problems without being locked up with "A pack of wolves"

Yeah, one of the signs of an unreformed criminal is to blame other people for their own actions instead of taking responsibilty themselves.

Still, I have my own reservations with the North Dakota State Hospital, as I was there at the age of 11, and again at the ages of 12-14, in the years from 1978, and 1979-81. They offered no real help for me when I was there, and after reading this, apparently still offer no help to people other than to warehouse them, and get them away from 'normal people'.

If they were serious about helping people, they wouldn't have placed the guy who was raped/assaulted on a unit with sex offenders. Furthermore, they would also have rigorous programs in place for the sex offenders so they could avoid falling back into the behaviour patterns that got them into trouble upon their eventual release. With the fact that the man was assaulted, coupled with the comment of his assailant, I would tend to believe that this is not happening.

Also as an aside, I most likely know the person who was sexually assaulted due to the fact of our similarity in age, as well as the fact that he's been there since 1975-76, which would place us both in the NDSH Adolescent Unit at the same time, as our commitments were concurrent. I find it sad as well confirming the fact the the North Dakota State Hospital is still nothing more than a warehouse in that he's been there continuously for 33 years. --I also find it more damning that his family approves of him being there instead of a community based program, or a group home.

Furthermore, here's a link to a Bismark Tribune special report on another North Dakota instution, the Grafton State School.