Shortly after being released from prison in mid-October, Michael J. Sheehan found himself in custody again for tampering with the GPS device required by the terms of his release.
Sheehan, a registered sex offender in King County, was released from Cedar Creek Corrections Center in Littlerock, Wash., on Oct. 14 after completing his sentence for voyeurism charges in Madison Park for which he was arrested Nov. 7, 2006. These charges came after an incident in 2003 in which Sheehan was convicted of second-degree burglary with sexual intent.
But Sheehan was arrested Oct. 21 and found guilty of violating the terms of his supervision Nov. 6 and was sentenced to 60 days in jail. He was expected to be released Nov. 30 for good behavior, said Department of Corrections (DOC) spokesperson Chad Lewis.
Sheehan is to live in the 800 block of 23rd Avenue and will be placed back on a GPS. He has a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew.
If Sheehan violates the terms of his community supervision again he will be arrested and could potentially face a longer time in custody, Lewis said.
As a "high violent" - which ranks as the most likely to commit a violent crime - Sheehan will be required to check into his local DOC office and report to a community corrections officer, who will make announced and unannounced field visits to assess Sheehan's stability.
NEEDING STABILITY
Though Sheehan's actions may beg the question, 'Why let him out in the first place?' once a sentence is served an offender needs to be released by law into the county where the offender was convicted.
The average prison sentence is about two years, and 97 percent of all inmates are eventually released from prison, according to Lewis.
Additionally, the first 30 days after release are known to be the most unstable for offenders. And less stability means a higher chance of recidivism, he said.
"When you're most unstable is when you're most likely to commit a violation," Lewis said. "It's more of a stability issue; stability is one of the key indicators if you'll commit another crime."
For one of Sheehan's victims, the fact that Sheehan violated the terms of his release so quickly only further indicates he has not undergone sincere rehabilitation or remorse.
"I don't feel like he's somebody who's going to stop doing this," said the victim, who asked that her name be withheld. "I feel like somebody like that doesn't stop doing what they went to prison for, especially when he didn't have the sense he did anything wrong or that he victimized anybody."
The victim helped to identify Sheehan after a series of incidents where he'd been sighted near the Edgewater Apartments, 2411 42nd Ave. E., several times committing lewd sexual acts while watching women through their apartment windows.
"There are lots of young women out of college living there, so I want those young girls there to know about it so they can be smart and secure," the victim said. "Because we weren't being that way when we were there. There was a false sense of security."
In such a tight-knit community like Madison Park, the victim said it was easy to forget the dangers of the city. While Sheehan is temporarily in prison for parole violation, it's important the community knows the threat exists, the victim said.
COMMUNITY'S HELP
Community supervision is exactly what the DOC wants, too, Lewis said.
"The reality is, in order for us to supervise Mr. Sheehan, we're going to need community help. We'll work with law enforcement. We'll work with the victims," Lewis said. "That's the way we're going to do it: collectively as a community."
Apart from upholding the court's orders to supervise offenders, the DOC intends to rehabilitate offenders.
"Our goal is not to see how many times we can re-arrest offenders," Lewis said. "Our goal is to help them become contributing members of society again. That's where we need help from everybody - from employers to landlords - not for the offender's benefit but for the community's benefit."
