Sex offender fights longer jail term

Tue, Jan 16, 2007

Associated Press

CHARLESTON — A twice-convicted sex offender who has completed his sentence remains jailed on a contempt charge while he fights a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation.

Emory Michau Jr. has been held at the Charleston County jail since 2003 on a contempt of court charge for refusing to take a mental evaluation, which could send him to a mental institution indefinitely.

Prosecutors hope to prove he should be civilly committed until a doctor determines his urges are cured, but they can't without the evaluation.

Michau contends he's already served his court-imposed time and should be set free. With the two sides at an impasse, the open-ended contempt charge keeps Michau behind bars.

Michau, 60, was initially sentenced in 1993 to 10 years.

in prison for molesting an 8-year-old boy. After his release, he was arrested again in 2000 for seeking sex from a 17-year-old boy and convicted in 2001.

He isn't alone among sex offenders held beyond their sentences.

Since the 1990s, more than 120 inmates convicted for sex crimes have been held beyond their prison terms.

About 30 of those have been released after being found medically cured. The rest are housed at a Department of Mental Health facility in Columbia, according to the state Attorney General's office.

Advocates say it's a much-needed layer of public protection. Laura Hudson, public policy coordinator of the South Carolina Victim Assistance Network, said the screening process focuses on inmates who are likely to re-offend, such as pedophiles.

She said just a couple of the roughly 700 sex criminals released annually are targeted for committal.

But opponents criticize the process as punishing mentally ill inmates for their thoughts instead of specific crimes. Denver lawyer Jeralyn Merritt, who has written about the politics of civil commitments, said commitments are justice gone overboard.

"If someone didn't get a harsh enough sentence, that's not reason enough to hold them longer," she said.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.charleston.net/