Eight convicted sex offenders, several of whom were convicted of raping children, were released from jail in New York as part of a plan to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
More than 50 inmates were released from a jail in Monroe County, New York, over the weekend, including three of whom were convicted of raping a child.
“It doesn’t make any sense. If you could present an argument to me that makes sense, I’m always willing to listen. But this doesn’t make any sense,” Patrick Phelan, chief of police in Greece, New York, told WIVB 4 News.
“We weren’t told by anyone,” Phelan added. “I think good practice would be that if you’re going to release nine convicted felons, some of them very violent, some of them registered level 3 sex offenders, which is the highest level … you might want to give law enforcement a heads-up.”
The release of the inmates is part of a broader statewide effort, led by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus by releasing prisoners deemed by the state to be unlikely to re-offend.
Last week, Cuomo ordered the release of over 1,000 inmates who violated parole for “nonserious” reasons.
“We’re releasing people who are in jails because they violated parole for nonserious reasons,” Cuomo told MSNBC on Friday night. “And wherever we can get people out of jails, out of prisons, now, we are.”
The state government of New York defended the release of local prisoners to local media over the weekend.
“This significant action is being taken in response to a growing number of COVID-19 cases in local jails over the past few days and weeks,” the Department of Corrections and Community Services said in a statement. “Our top priority remains the public health and safety of New Yorkers during this global public health emergency and this measure will further protect a vulnerable population from contracting and transmitting this infectious disease.”
[Opinion: Stop letting rapists out of prison]
