Sex Offender Registry Growing

A convicted rapist and murderer who was to be released from jail remains behind bars for now. MPB's Lawayne Childrey reports.

Douglas Hodgkin's release by the state parole board was delayed by a new Mississippi law that requires felons convicted of capital murder to register as a sex offender when the underlying crime is a sexual offense. The incident happened before Attorney General Jim Hood was in office. Still he recalls the heinous act that happened to University of Mississippi graduate student Jean Gillies in1986.

“I’ve been a prosecutor for almost 20 years and it’s the worst sexual assault case that I am familiar with. And it was a violent sex offence and murder. But ah, I mean if anybody needed to registered as a sex offender, first of all he didn’t need to be out. But if he is out he is a sex offender that needs to be monitored for the rest of his life.”

Attorney General Hood welcomes the legislation to monitor sex offenders who also commit murder but he is also calling for additional steps to be taken.

“There needs to be a longer set off period for these offenders. They shouldn’t come up but once maybe every five years. And if they’re going to parole someone who’s committed murder it ought to be unanimous. Or a sex offender for the matter. And I certainly be having some of our people drafting legislation for next year to try to fix that problem.”

Hodgkin was sentenced before Mississippi's adoption of a life without parole law. The parole board has said about 3,000 Mississippi inmates are eligible for parole each year. For MPB News, I’m Lawayne Childrey.