Excerpt / Summary CONCORD — Sex offenders who have been unwilling to participate in treatment programs were released by the state Adult Parole Board Thursday, but not by its choice.
“Here’s this guy trading ‘favors’ in prison for chocolate bars, and we’ve got to release him — and they (legislators) are still waffling on the bill,” said Alan Coburn, who served as chairman of the Adult Parole Board Thursday.
He referred to revisions to last year’s Senate Bill 500, an overhaul of the state parole system.
Senate Bill 53, which would return more latitude to the board in such cases, is the subject of a committee of conference between the House and Senate versions.
Under last year’s provisions, Senate Bill 500 requires inmates to be released to supervision nine months in advance of their maximum parole date. It also limits the board to returning parolees to no more than 90 days behind bars.
Phillip Emil Patch Jr., 74, of Concord, a convicted child sex offender who has taken no treatment, will be on the street Aug. 6.
Sentenced to two to four years in August 2009, he was advised to complete intensive sex offender treatment.
His corrections counselor has written: “Patch appears to have done as little as possible during his stay here, however disturbingly, he did trade sexual favors for candy bars with younger inmates. I believe that inmate Patch is an extremely dangerous predator who should be civilly committed.”
In his explanation of why he should be released, Patch simply wrote “SB 500.”
The board also released Darin Linn Schroyer, 45, of Lake Oswego, Ore., convicted of two counts of second-degree assault.
The indictment accused him of raping a female under age 13 in Portsmouth from 1997 to 2001, but he was convicted of lesser charges and received two concurrent terms of 1 1/2 to 3 years.
His minimum parole date was Nov. 28, 2010, but he was denied parole because of his failure to take sex offender training.
He insisted he is not a sex offender.
He will be released to live in Hampton Aug. 30.
Schroyer said he has not done sex offender training but explained he had “complied with all of the terms of my sentence.”
Also released because of SB 500 Thursday was John D. Polito, 49 of Manchester. He will be released Aug. 2. He is eligible for Social Security benefits of $674 a month.
Polito was convicted with four counts of burglary.
He recently received a “write-up” or report of bad behavior from the halfway house he was living in when he allegedly told someone to “burn this house down.”
Polito was, however, paroled because of SB 500.
Coburn urged Polito, “Don’t blow this. I know you are not going to get all that you want. ... Get out Aug. 2, get straightened out, go to your meetings, stay on your medication” and pay restitution of $15,400. |