Serial rapist set to be released from Minnesota Sex Offender Program, with conditions

A serial rapist who has been in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program for nearly two decades is set to be released with conditions. The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected a petition from state officials to keep Thomas Duvall, 63, inside the program on Tuesday, setting in motion his release later this fall.

Duvall was convicted of violently raping women, including teenage girls, in the 1970s and 1980s. He also re-offended while on parole, just days after getting out of jail or prison. Duvall's last offense was in 1987.

He was subsequently civilly committed and has been in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program since 2001. He's spent more than eight years in the final step in the program, at times volunteering at a thrift store in Mankato. Five years ago, he filed a petition for release, which has been granted and agreed to by different court panels.

Eric Janus, a professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law who was not involved in the case, says the court's role was to examine Duvall's treatment, as it would with anyone held in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.

"The question is never how much punishment do these people deserve, that's already been done, but rather what can we say about their ability to manage appropriately in the community," Janus said.

A former member of an advisory task force on the sex offender program, Janus knows Duvall's case in particular. He said most of those who worked with Duvall in the program supported the release.

"This is a case where the past history is upsetting to many people and it has caused some political upset, however the professionals involved in the program made a clear recommendation about the level of manageability in the community and the courts gave that credence," he said.

This was not the outcome the state of Minnesota wanted. Department of Human Services Commissioner Emily Piper released a statement Wednesday in which she said she "adamantly opposed and repeatedly challenged this decision.

"Now that all appeals have been exhausted, we will carefully supervise and monitor Mr. Duvall. We will strictly hold him to the conditions of his provisional discharge, including GPS monitoring, drug and alcohol testing, random searches and required polygraphs," Piper said.

The court's decision to allow Duvall's release doesn't mean he is out from under the watch of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.

"He will be, for the foreseeable future, supervised 24-7 in a supervised housing setting with various security and he can't go anyplace by himself, he has to be accompanied by a staff person no matter where he goes," said Duvall's attorney Bill Lubov.

Lubov said Duvall will go to a specialized facility in the Twin Cities metro area. The Minnesota Sex Offender Program has the right to revoke the provisional discharge for any violation of conditions.

Duvall would be just the 18th person provisionally discharged since the program started in 1995. Three have been fully discharged. There are currently 739 people in the program.

Correction (Sept. 19, 2018): This story previously reported an incorrect number for people who have been provisionally discharged. The story has been updated.