Could Danny Heinrich scuttle ideas for reforming Minnesota's sex offender program?

Danny Heinrich mugshots
Danny Heinrich mugshots
Stearns Co.

Danny Heinrich, who confessed to sexually assaulting and killing Jacob Wetterling, is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday.

Meanwhile, Minnesota stands at a very important moment, debating and litigating the future of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, which is designed to handle the state's worst sex offenders.

How will the spotlight on Heinrich affect the debate over MSOP? Did he just scuttle any hopes of reforming MSOP?

Eric Janus, law professor and a member of Minnesota's Sex Offender Civil Commitment Advisory Task Force, and Elizabeth Letourneau, professor and director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at Johns Hopkins, joined Tom Weber for a conversation about the future of MSOP. They also discussed, more broadly, what we know about the prevention, treatment, and recidivism rates of sex offenders.

To hear the entire conversation, use the audio player above.

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