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Police warn of violent rapist
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Madison police issued an official warning Tuesday to city residents about the release of one of the state's most violent sexual criminals.
According to court documents, Lindon Knutson, 58, has reportedly raped 10 females, including nine juveniles.
Knutson's most recent conviction came in 1994 for raping a juvenile whom he followed home after her shift at a drive-in theater.
The MPD does not usually issue citywide reports when a sexual offender is released. However, the department decided to make an exception for Knutson, who is being released because he has served his allotted criminal sentence.
"Due to his past and what his crimes all entailed, we think there is a concern and that the community should be aware of this person being released from confinement," said Mike Hanson, public information officer for the MPD.
Of the more than 19,000 registered sex offenders in Wisconsin, 5,000 are out on active community supervision. Of those, only 17 are like Knutson and categorized as a "sexually violent person," said Melissa Roberts, director of sex offender programs at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
Roberts added the nature of Knutson's crimes — such as most of his victims being strangers to him — played a factor in the decision to issue a warning to the community.
"He has multiple victims," Roberts said. "Certainly, the fact that those victims were juvenile increases his risk, and all of those issues played a factor into this decision."
Knutson has completed every day of his criminal sentence and attended in-patient treatment, Roberts said. Individuals who have completed these programs can petition the court for supervised release to the community.
However, the police are selective in choosing when to notify the public about the release of a sex offender.
Hanson said this is not to protect the privacy of the offender, but rather to emphasize the importance and danger of certain criminal releases.
"If we only point out the ones where we're highly concerned or feel the community should notice, it has more meaning," Hanson said.
Roberts agreed that police should choose carefully when to warn citizens about the release of a sex offender.
"The intent of the community notification laws in Wisconsin is to highlight the most dangerous cases," Roberts said. "If we were to do notification on every single one of those cases, there certainly is this saturation effect."
The police also do not issue public notifications about sex offenders because many of them are still under the supervision of the Department of Correction, both Roberts and Hanson added.
A veteran of the Vietnam War, Knutson's first incident of sexual assault occurred against a female Vietnamese prisoner. Knutson was later treated for post-traumatic stress disorder at a veteran's hospital stemming from his experiences in Vietnam.
Knutson has also received psychological treatment at the Madison-area Mendota Mental Health Institute. He escaped from the MMHI in 1977, but was later apprehended when he attempted to abduct a 16-year-old girl.
If Knutson — who will be under 24-hour electronic monitoring — violates any conditions of his release, the MPD said he would be taken back into custody.
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IP hash: 43c70441
1994???? He only sat in prison for 13 years for raping someone? Our justice system is a joke.
IP hash: 643daa73
Does the community really need to wait until he rapes another juvenile before we put him back in prison? I’m sure some 15 or 16 year old really needs a life of scarring so that this man can return to prison in two weeks. Have we not learned that sexual offenders strike more than once, and usually within months of being released? It’s statistics. It’s true. I believe that people have the right to rehibilitation in our prison facilities, but how does raping nine juviniles still allow a person into our community?? And then you have someone like Stanley Williams who becomes a commendable anti-gang violence activist who we put to death. Yes, raping nine adolescent females is okay, but encouraging adolescents against gang violence is punishable by death.
IP hash: 643daa73
ps - if you actually google him, you can’t even find a picture of the guy, and if you try and look him up in the multiple sex offender registries, you have to search by zip code. So basically you can’t find out where he is living, or what he looks like, unless you search zip code by zip code. I’m really glad that we respect HIS privacy.
IP hash: ef20c6c9
So he took a class on how to not rape people. I took a class on how to not drink underage, too. That didn’t work either. Seriously, /ten/ people, nine of them juveniles. When you get up to two, you should really be put away for life. The first one alone should be more than thirteen years.
IP hash: 228f7169
Yeah, Tookie was such a great guy! (rolls eyes)
IP hash: f4bee59f
The Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry (SOR) is searchable by name. You do NOT need the zipcode. Additionally, since 2006 they now list the actual addresses of the offenders. While I don’t think this guy should ever see the light of day, there are ways to determine where he is “supposed” to be at. Here’s the WI SOR link: http://offender.doc.state.wi.us/public/search/searchbyname.jsp
IP hash: 9674b168
not just one person but ten. who the hell is letting this guy out?!? leave him in there!
IP hash: 60d5e334
why didnt he do his time in prison? why in a mental institute? guilty by reason of insanity? at mendota alot of the patients that are doing long sentences for terrible crimes arent even on psych meds. then why house them there? i’ve seen murderers and sex offenders routinely get day community passes. some guys can order porn but theyre not suppose to share it with the violent sex offenders. they can order out pizzas once a week. “hard time” at mendota, hell be well rested and ready to go. Next time send him to prison and let him do his time like the rest of the guys. save your rehab for the inmates who actually can benefit it and stop wasting it on the sex offenders that have proven over and over you cant turn them around. the recidivism numbers speak for themselves.