High court gets cases on sexual predators

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Angela M. Coffel's status as the only woman ever declared a sexually violent predator in Missouri is in the hands of the state Supreme Court.

Her case was one of three -- including one involving a Scott County man -- the court considered Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of the state law that allows for the indefinite confinement of convicted sex offenders who have completed their prison terms but are deemed likely to commit new crimes if released. The court will issue opinions in the cases at a later date.

In addition to the constitutional question, public defender Emmett Queener told the court evidence was insufficient to warrant Coffel's continued confinement. Although scant research has been done on female sex offenders, Queener said experts consider recidivism rare among that group.

"We, at this point, have a clear lack of factors to determine if a woman will reoffend," Queener said.

Coffel pleaded guilty in March 1996 to sodomizing two Lincoln County boys, ages 11 and 13. She was 18 at the time of the crimes in October 1994.

After she completed her five-year prison term in July 2001, a jury declared her a sexually violent predator and she was indefinitely committed to a secure Missouri Department of Mental Health facility.

The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District in St. Louis cited a lack of evidence that she would reoffend in overturning that decision in March this year, prompting the state's appeal.

Assistant attorney general Andrea Spillars acknowledged little is known about female sexual predators. However, Spillars said Coffel's behavior demonstrates a lack of control.

While awaiting sentencing in 1996, Coffel is alleged to have had unprotected sex with a 15-year-old boy despite being HIV-positive. During her prison stay, she was also cited for 88 conduct violations, some of which were sexual in nature.

Queener said the state's treatment program is designed for male offenders and wouldn't do Coffel any good.

The other cases also stem from 1996 convictions with civil commitments that followed in 2001.

Nelvin Spencer pleaded guilty to first-degree statutory rape in Scott County. Michael Norton pleaded guilty to first-degree child molestation in Clark County.

Spencer's conviction related to sexual contact that one stepdaughter reported at age 12. During the proceedings on his commitment to a mental health institution, other daughters and stepdaughters testified they also had been abused.

Queener said Missouri's law violated the constitutional rights of all three of his clients because it requires that declared sexual predators automatically be held in a maximum security facility. Queener said people involuntarily committed to mental health facilities for other reasons are entitled by law to be held in the least restrictive environment as dictated by their behavior.

The state contended that wasn't a legitimate constitutional issue, as the legislature established that sexual predators are a distinct and dangerous subclass.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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