1974 Rodriguez victim watches from afar (Dru Sjodin case)

Minneapolis Star Tribune ^ | December 5th, 2003 | Matt McKinney

[Sabertooth]

Shirley Iverson was home on break from her freshman year in college when a man approached her as she sat in her parked car and asked for a ride. Iverson, just 18 and raised in the small town of Crookston, Minn., said sure.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. got in and Iverson drove away. What happened next on that October 1974 day in Crookston was Rodriguez's first of several known attacks on women, according to court documents that lay out his history of abuse, sexual assaults and rapes committed between stays in prison.

< -snip- >

Iverson, who now lives in Oregon and works for that state's Department of Human Services, said her sister, who still lives in Crookston, called her the day after Sjodin disappeared. "Really the first words out of our mouths was, 'I wonder where [Rodriguez] was that night,' " she said.

Iverson's gut told her that Rodriguez was behind Sjodin's disappearance. Her brain told her that she was being paranoid -- that a drifter or someone passing through the area had abducted Sjodin. "It just kept coming back to my stomach, this debate," she said.

She followed the story through the Internet. Then on Monday her sister called to tell her about Rodriguez's arrest. "I thought I was going to throw up," she said. "I thought of all the angst that he has wrought in his life. For me, personally, the other victims, the victim's families, his own family, and now for what Dru's family is being put through, which to me is unfathomable, to have a loved one missing.

< -snip- >

Iverson called the sex offender registry a "grand step forward."

"It has helped the topic come out of the closet. It just might be time for its next step in development," she said.

She also wanted to remind people that the story is bigger than just Rodriguez.

"Alfonso Rodriguez represents hundreds, if not tens of thousands of similarly risky individuals that are in neighborhoods around the country," she said. "Sometimes with this story you can get very myopic that this is about him and what went wrong."

[Sabertooth]

Rodriguez was released from a Minnesota state prison in May after serving 23 years for attempted abduction and other charges. He was classified as a Level 3 sex offender, meaning he's considered most at risk to reoffend. He had been considered for civil commitment, but a psychologist and review board decided against recommending him for the program, which could have kept him in custody indefinitely.

I did a little clicking around. Alfonso Rodriguez is a Level 3 sex offender.

Alfonso Rodriguez was convicted and served 23 years in Minnesota, before being paroled and moving to North Dakota.

Alfonso Rodriguez doesn't appear in the North Dakota Sex Offender Registry.

Alfonso Rodriguez doesn't appear in the Minnesota Sex Offender Registry.

He just got out of prison after 23 years for multiple rapes, he's considered a likely repeater, and he's just turned loose on an unsuspecting populace?

[Sabertooth]

((((((growl)))))

[apackof2]

That's the big question

Why was this guy released?

[MHGinTN]

[ Alfonso Rodriguez was convicted and served 23 years in Minnesota, before being paroled and moving to North Dakota.

Alfonso Rodriguez doesn't appear in the North Dakota Sex Offender Registry.

Alfonso Rodriguez doesn't appear in the Minnesota Sex Offender Registry.

He just got out of prison after 23 years for multiple rapes, he's considered a likely repeater, and he's just turned loose on an unsuspecting populace? ]

Are these leftist/liberal controlled states? Are the elected representatives from these states liberal democrats? Do liberal democrats from these states influence the appointment of judges for these states? Liberalism ... a disease in need of eradication

[Cindy]

Maybe more people will wonder how many sex offenders live around them --- and when they find out --- THEY WILL BE SHOCKED!

[friendly]

That beautiful young girl, Dru Sjodin, is very, very dead. She was murdered by Level 3 sex offender Alfonso Rodriguez, as well as the psychologist and review board which decided against recommending him to be kept in custody indefinitely.

[Paleo Conservative]

I did a little clicking around. Alfonso Rodriguez is a Level 3 sex offender.

Too bad he isn't a -6 ft. level sex offender.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Sabertooth]

Why was this guy released?

Ask Eric Janus...

Corrections officials change sex offender review policy
by Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
December 4, 2003

William Mitchell College of Law professor Eric Janus says he's troubled that the decision to refer all level three offenders for commitment may mean that more offenders could have their prison terms extended. (MPR Photo/Tom Scheck)

Another day has passed without a sign of Dru Sjodin, the 22-year-old college student who went missing last month after her shift at a Grand Forks shopping mall. The man charged with kidnapping made his first appearance in a North Dakota courtroom Thursday afternoon. A judge set bail for Alfonso Rodriguez Junior at $5 million dollars. Rodriguez entered no plea, but requested to remain in jail, for his own safety. Rodriguez is a convicted rapist who was released by Minnesota authorities last May even though he was rated a level three sex offender -- the category deemed the highest risk to reoffend. His arrest in the Sjodin disappearance has prompted the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Corrections order her department to refer all level three sex offenders to county attorneys for civil commitment. Until now, officials with the Corrections Department have conducted interviews and psychiatric evaluations of all level three sex offenders. The department would then recommend civil commitment for the offenders judged most likely to commit another sex crime. Critics say the policy shift is shortsighted and will place an undue burden on county attorneys and the courts.

St. Paul, Minn. &#8212; Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. was released after serving a 23- year prison sentence. Earlier this week, a corrections official said he was not recommended for civil commitment because of his age and his behavior in prison. The 50-year-old Rodriguez moved into his mother's home in Crookston, where neighbors were notified of his release.

Corrections Commissioner Joan Fabian's new policy will take that discretion away from department staffers. The decision on who should be civilly committed will now be left up to county attorneys who worry that they won't have the time or resources to do the same job.

"I just want to know is it going to make it a better process or is it just going to change who is ultimately responsible," said Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner. She says her office will continue to do a thorough review of anyone judged a a high likelihood to reoffend. Her office now considers civil commitment for any sex offenders recommended by the Corrections Department.

Gaertner says, however, that she's concerned that county attorneys across the state won't have the experts and the tools to make uniform decisions about offenders: "When they send a file to us and say we have concerns, we think this person might reoffend, we really rely on that judgment. And I'm really concerned that without that judgment, without that initial screening, the process is not going to be better, the process isn't going to be as good."

Corrections Department officials declined requests to be interviewed for this story. A spokesperson says the policy shift is temporary, but that Fabian may move to make it permanent.

Gaertner isn't sure if more people will be civilly committed under the new program. She says the courts have approved about fifty percent of her civil commitment requests. But there will be an increase in referrals. The Corrections Department expects 45 level three offenders to be released from prison every year. If committed, they would go into the Sex Offender Treatment Program.

And that worries some who say the costly program is not producing significant results. There are 209 offenders in the program now at a cost of $110,000 a year per patient.

Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-Fridley, says the Pawlenty administration should think carefully before increasing the number of patients. He says lawmakers should allocate more money for treating released sex offenders in community settings rather than recommending more costly civil commitment for all level three offenders.

"I don't think by saying let's commit everybody who comes out of prison won't stand constitutional muster and I don't think we can afford it," Betzold said.

The Legislature made a five percent cut for community sex offender treatment and supervision in the current two-year budget. Human Services Commissioner Kevin Goodno says his department is prepared to handle an increase in patients who are civilly committed. But he says he's not so sure that there will be an increase since the courts require a high standard of proof before a person is civilly committed.

"If there's a greater number of individuals in the program, we'll provide treatment for them and we'll make sure we have a secured setting for them," Goodno said. "Just because more people are referred doesn't necessarily mean that will increase the number of people who are civilly committed because the referral is just a recommendation or a just giving the county a heads up."

William Mitchell College of Law professor Eric Janus says he's troubled that the decision to refer all level three offenders for commitment may mean that more offenders could have their prison terms extended. He says politicians will continue to use civil commitment as an option whenever a sex offender is arrested for a high profile crime.

"There will be always be some pressure to extend the line further down," Janus said. "And without some principal place to stop we should expect that the net for civil commitment will continue to grow because unfortunately there will always be some recidvism among sex offenders."

The Corrections Department says 12 level three sex offenders of the 140 released from 1997 through 1999 were arrested for a new sex offense by March of 2002.

Janus says he's not considering a lawsuit over this most recent policy shift. He and several other attorneys have filed a lawsuit over Governor Pawlenty's executive order in July that says no one in the sex offender program should be released unless by a court order. Janus says the order undermines the constitutionality of the treatment program.
Minnesota Public Radio News - December 4th, 2003

[ambrose]

What do you think of this arrest? It would seem to make more sense to tail him. I don't think he'll tell the cops anything unless they plan on torturing him.

[Freedom4US]

Long ago, I determined the only way to stop this seemingly unending nonsense is to make psychologists, judges and review boards liable for the mayhem their "I'm all better now" sex offenders and other assorted riff-raff cause.

Sure, they might have a conscience, but that won't cut it. This same scenario gets repeated over and over and over, and none of these so-called experts are held responsible. It's ridiculous, but maybe Dru won't have died in vain. (I'm assuming the young lady is no longer with us) In any case, this %$#@ has to stop.

[aculeus]

Don't ignore the behavior of this man's court-appointed lawyer.

He's advised his "client" not to talk to the police.

The woman might be alive (which I doubt) but lawyer-boy doesn't want to help save her life.

Finding her body if she's dead is important.

But lawyer-boy puts his slimebag client interests first and last.

This lawyer knows the man is guilty, knows he'll be found guilty and knows he'll never be free ... but he won't lift a finger to help the victim or her family.

Lawyers are ethical basket cases.

[Yeti]

I have checked the local sex offender regisrty online.

We have a pretty good searching system, but I am disappointed that the details in the listings are sketchy. The crimes are listed by "offense code" which is something that can be negotiated in a plea bargain, and gives very little information about what sort of criminal the person is.

[xJones]

Alfosno is a cutey, all right. That SOB was let out, knowing that he was likely to strike again, and he had no supervision. the rapist.

[Hildy]

After 23 years, he probably wanted to go back to jail, as many do.

[PistolPaknMama]

Eric Janus says he's troubled that the decision to refer all level three offenders for commitment may mean that more offenders could have their prison terms extended.

Waaa boo hoo!! I'm troubled by women who turn up dead or have to live with the horror of a memory that should never have happened.

[Senormechanico]

"I don't think he'll tell the cops anything unless they plan on torturing him."

Works for me...

SM

[Mulder]

Thanks for the ping.

This is a very sad case, and I hope the girl turns out to be alive.

The POS rapist should have been executed after his first conviction of rape.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

He will be soon, 6 feet under...

[xJones]

Don't ignore the behavior of this man's court-appointed lawyer.

He's advised his "client" not to talk to the police.

And the ABA wonders why lawyers are despised...It's basic: if you're innocent, you keep saying, "I never had anything to do with that girl, I'll pass any test you have to prove it." If you're guilty, then you don't talk to the police, and to hell with the girl's family and friends.

What a good lawyer, a credit to his profession. The missing girl doesn't matter, to protect any possible assilant's rights are more important.

All that is needed is to allow the police to ask the guy a few questions. His lawyer advised against that. So, why not? But if the court-appointed attorney's sister were missing and a possible suspect was brought in, no doubt the lawyer would advise the convicted rapist to "say nothing to the police". Right.