Red flags led to commitment of offender

By Susan Larson | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, December 29, 2007

A pre-release evaluation of convicted sex offender Peter Allen George threw up enough red flags to prompt a petition for civil commitment to be filed.

George was taken into custody after being released from prison Dec. 26. Conducted by the Minnesota Department of Corrections, the evaluation was forwarded to the Otter Tail County Attorney’s office and a petition was filed Dec. 24 by the Attorney General’s office on behalf of Otter Tail County. If granted it would commit George to the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter, County Attorney David Hauser said.

George was convicted in 2000 of being in possession of a controlled substance (a date rape drug) and of distributing it with the intent to commit a crime of violence. He used the drug to have sexual contact with an adult female and a 15-year-old female.

In the petition for commitment, George Beck, independent legal counsel for the Minnesota Department of Corrections, indicated, “George does suffer from a sexual, personality and other disorders or dysfunction. George was diagnosed with depression in 1996 and George likely suffers from anti-social personality disorder, given the predatory nature of his offenses.”

Jack Rusinoff of the Minnesota Department of Corrections also completed a sex offender risk assessment recommendation. According to the petition, he recommended a level three rating based on “George’s two sex-related convictions, evidence of other sexual assaults and his chemical dependency and the contributory role it played in his offenses.” Level three is assigned to those with the highest risk of reoffending.

Rusinoff also expressed concern about George’s unsuccessful alcohol treatments, his history of relapse following treatment, predatory offense behavior and “evidence of an extensive number of victims for which he was not charged.”

After being picked up Wednesday, George was held temporarily in the Otter Tail County Detention Facility for a preliminary hearing, which took place Thursday. He was remanded to the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter for evaluation.

“We don’t know how long that will take,” Hauser said. “It could be a month.”

After that, another hearing will take place to determine what happens next. He could be committed to the St. Peter facility indefinitely for treatment, with periodic reviews, Hauser said. The Minnesota Security Hospital is a facility for dangerous individuals and sexual offenders.

After being released from prison earlier that day, level three sex offender Peter Allen George, 51, was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon by the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Department. He was stopped on Interstate 94 near Moorhead and served with civil commitment papers to the Minnesota Security Hospital. Since he was being released from the Stutsman, N.D., County jail in North Dakota, papers had to be served in Minnesota. George was slated to return to his home on County Highway 31 near Pelican Lake in Dunn Township.