FOR PUBLICATION
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:
JEAN E. HADLEY STEVE CARTER
Mt. Vernon, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
ANDREW A. KOBE
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
B.J.B., )
)
Appellant-Defendant, )
)
vs. ) No. 65A05-0309-JV-433
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Appellee-Plaintiff. )
OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION
App. pp. 107-08.
On January 2, 2001, the State filed a petition alleging B.B. molested a
five-year old boy by fondling him, a Class C felony if committed by
an adult, in June or July of 2000. B.B. denied committing this
act, but the allegation was found true following a fact-finding hearing in September
2001. B.B. was psychologically evaluated again before final disposition; the ensuing report
stated that testing results strongly suggest a pattern of antisocial behavior, serious lack
of empathy, and increasingly prominent emotional factors that will likely lead to a
personality disorder if left unchecked. [B.B.] is in immediate need of intensive
services. App. p. 99. On November 28, 2001, as part of
the final disposition, the juvenile court ordered B.B. to be placed with Whites
Institution for Boys, a private residential facility.
While at Whites, B.B. attended three sex offense group counseling sessions per week
and also attended individual counseling. Reports from Whites in the record before
us generally reflect that B.B. was well behaved, did well in school, and
was progressing in his treatment, especially after he admitted to counselors and his
parents that he had molested the five-year old. There is also no
evidence in the record that B.B. engaged in any delinquent behavior after the
molesting incident in the summer of 2000. However, the Whites staff was
concerned that B.B. engaged in sneaky and manipulative behavior to cover up mischievous
but not always serious incidents that involved only him and not other residents,
such as changing his pants in a hallway. App. p. 62.
Additionally, the Whites staff was disappointed that B.B., on advice of counsel and
pursuant to a court order, refused to take a polygraph test, which was
part of Whites standard treatment protocol. The reports also indicate that Whites
planned to recommend B.B.s release in the summer of 2003.
After conducting a review hearing in June 2003, the juvenile court ordered B.B.s
release from Whites. He was placed on probation and electronic monitoring; the
juvenile court also ordered home-based counseling for B.B. and his parents. On
July 18, 2003, the juvenile court, acting ex parte and sua sponte, issued
an order requiring B.B. to register with the Posey County Sheriffs Department as
a sex offender. In its order, the court stated that its decision
was based upon a discharge summary received from Whites indicating that B.B. did
not successfully complete sex offender treatment. App. p. 48. This discharge
summary is not in the record before us, nor is there any indication
in the chronological case summary (CCS) that it was filed with the juvenile
court.
B.B. promptly moved for a hearing regarding this order, which was set for
August 13, 2003. The hearing was primarily a discussion between the juvenile
court, B.B., his counsel, and his parents. The State presented no evidence
and made no argument, aside from clarifying that B.B. was fourteen at the
time of child molestation. B.B.s counsel argued, and the juvenile court essentially
agreed, that it was unfair to base the sex offender registration order solely
on the Whites discharge summary because the finding that he had not successfully
completed treatment was based primarily on B.B.s refusal to take the polygraph test,
pursuant to the advice of counsel and a specific court order. Nevertheless,
the court reaffirmed its order requiring B.B. to register as a sex offender,
based on the psychological evaluations performed before he was sent to Whites.
B.B. now appeals the sex offender registration order.
Id. at 615-16 (quoting Estate of Reasor v. Putnam County, 635 N.E.2d 153,
159-60 (Ind. 1994) (quoting Travelers Indem. Co. v. Armstrong, 442 N.E.2d 349, 360-61
(Ind. 1982))).
We discussed the difference between the adult criminal justice system and the juvenile
delinquency system in G.B.:
The statutory scheme for dealing with minors who commit crimes is vastly different
from the statutory scheme directed to adults who commit crimes. C.W. v.
State, 643 N.E.2d 915, 917 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994). American society [has]
rejected treating juvenile law violators no differently from adult criminals in favor of
individualized diagnosis and treatment. State ex rel. Camden v. Gibson Circuit
Court, 640 N.E.2d 696, 697 (Ind. 1994). Therefore, it is the policy
of this State to ensure that children within the juvenile justice system are
treated as persons in need of care, protection, treatment, and rehabilitation . .
. . Ind. Code § 31-10-2-1(5) (emphasis added); see also B.L. v.
State, 688 N.E.2d 1311, 1314 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997) (the [S]tates primary interest
[is] in the rehabilitation, rather than the punishment, of juvenile delinquents.) (emphasis added).
709 N.E.2d at 354.
We also observe that in Spencer v. OConnor, 707 N.E.2d 1039 (Ind. Ct.
App. 1999), trans. denied, this court concluded that requiring an adult criminal sex
offender to place his or her name on the sex offense registry is
not a punishment within the meaning of the Ex Post Facto clauses of
the United States and Indiana Constitutions. In so doing, we emphasized that
much of the information contained in the registry with respect to adult criminal
offenses is already in the public domain and is already accessible to the
public. Id. at 1044. Also, to the extent registered offenders were
sometimes subjected to vigilante acts, we observed that such incidents are not consequences
imposed by the [Registry] Act itself, but flow from the fact of the
underlying criminal act. Id. at 1046. The identity of juvenile delinquents,
however, is often not a matter of public knowledge because of the underlying
policy of rehabilitating, not punishing, juveniles. See I.C. 31-39-1-2 (providing for general
confidentiality of juvenile records, subject to delineated exceptions). We also acknowledged in
Spencer that the indirect effects of notification on the offenders and their families
may be harsh and may include lost employment opportunities, housing discrimination, threats, and
violence. Spencer, 707 N.E.2d at 1045.
In light of these considerations and the general policy of rehabilitation underlying the
juvenile delinquency system, it is clear that there must be an inquiry at
a full evidentiary hearing before a juvenile may be placed on the sex
offender registry. Additionally, we have held that when a juvenile is placed
in a secure facility, a sex offender registry hearing can only be conducted
after the juvenile has been released from the facility. G.B., 709 N.E.2d
at 354; see also I.C. 5-2-12-4(b)(2) (defining sex offender as including a juvenile
who has been discharged from a Department of Correction facility, secure private facility,
or juvenile detention facility). This statutory scheme helps insure that juveniles who
have been rehabilitated by virtue of their detention are not required to register
as a sex offender. G.B., 709 N.E.2d at 354. Thus, the
focus of inquiry, with respect to a juvenile who has been released from
a secure facility, is whether the treatment received in that facility has resulted
in the juveniles rehabilitation. If that is the case, there cannot be
clear and convincing evidence that the juvenile is likely to re-offend and the
juvenile cannot be placed on the sex offender registry.
Here, the State argues that the August 13, 2003 hearing conducted by the
juvenile court was sufficient to meet the evidentiary hearing requirement because B.B. could
have presented evidence at that time to persuade the juvenile court to keep
him off the sex offender registry.
See footnote This argument misses the point.
B.B. was not required to persuade the juvenile court to keep him off
the registry; rather, Indiana Code Section 5-2-12-4(b)(3) clearly contemplates that the State bore
the burden of proving, by clear and convincing evidence, that B.B. was likely
to commit another sex offense. The State presented no evidence or argument
to the juvenile court on this issue.
Instead, the juvenile court relied primarily on psychological examinations of B.B. conducted in
2000 and 2001, prior to his dispositions for the animal cruelty and child
molestation charges, respectively, and prior to his rehabilitative treatment. We are able
to review these reports because they were attached to the 2000 and 2001
predispositional reports that were filed with the juvenile court and, therefore, they are
included in the appendix B.B. provided to this court. However, we cannot
conclude that these reports are sufficient, in and of themselves, to provide clear
and convincing evidence that B.B. is likely to commit another sex offense.
Although they do indicate that B.B. had moderate to severe psychological problems when
they were prepared, they do not indicate that B.B. was beyond rehabilitation.
For example, although the juvenile court said it was troubled by a statement
in the 2000 report that B.B.s prognosis for change is poor, the words
immediately before that statement are If left unchecked . . . .
App. p. 108. Similarly, the 2001 report stated that B.B.s psychological issues
will likely lead to a personality disorder
if left unchecked. App. p.
99 (emphasis added). The report went on to recommend B.B.s long-term placement
in a secure facility to address his psychological problems.
This is precisely what B.B. received: approximately a year and a half
of intensive treatment in a secure residential facility. His psychological problems were
not left unchecked. Thus, there needed to be an evaluation of whether
that period of treatment sufficiently rehabilitated B.B. and whether he was likely to
commit another sex offense. This is where the lack of a full
evidentiary hearing on this issue has made it impossible for us to conclude
that there is clear and convincing evidence B.B. is likely to re-offend.
As mentioned, aside from the 2000 and 2001 psychological reports, the juvenile court
relied upon a discharge summary from Whites that purportedly stated B.B. had not
successfully completed sex offender treatment. The problem is that this report, which
we assume was prepared after B.B. was released from Whites following the June
2003 review hearing, is not in the record before us. We do
not know how it came into the juvenile courts possession. There is
no indication in the CCS that it was ever filed with the court,
nor was it entered into evidence as an exhibit at the registry hearing.
Thus, we cannot review it or rely on the juvenile courts characterization
of it in our decision. See Frye v. Vigo County, 769 N.E.2d
188, 194 n.5 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002) (noting that we cannot consider matters
outside the record or speculate as to the actual facts of a case).
On appeal, however, the State also asserts B.B.s progress reports from Whites provide
clear and convincing evidence that he is likely to re-offend, even though it
did not introduce these reports at the August 13 hearing. These reports
from Whites that were filed and are in the record
See footnote generally note that
B.B. was progressing in his therapeutic treatment and was generally well-behaved. For
example, a report from October 2002 contains the following comments from the case
manager:
[B.B.] is a very bright young man. He appears to be able
to control his behavior and take responsibility for his actions. On the
surface he appears to be confident, sometimes overly confident. He demonstrates adequate
social skills among his peers. Although doing well in most areas, I
think that [B.B.] is capable of putting forth a better effort, especially in
his counseling.
App. p. 46. This same report also states B.B. earned an average
of 191 points out of 210 per week for good behavior in the
facility, a high level of points for our program. App. p. 44.
Additionally, B.B. received an average of 121 out of 150 possible points
per week in his individual counseling sessions. The only significant concerns in
this report are B.B.s refusal to take a polygraph exam as part of
his treatment, which counsel advised him not to do and which the juvenile
court ordered he did not have to do, and his lying to staff
to get out of trouble.
Id.
Reports from January and March of 2003 are much the same, although they
do not specifically mention the polygraph issue. They point toward B.B.s release
in the spring or summer of 2003, as eventually occurred, without indicating that
Whites was inclined to release him because of a failure to progress in
treatment. They refer to his overall good behavior but still note his
sneaky and manipulative behavior concerning usually mischievous but not always serious incidents that
did not involve other residents. There is no indication of what serious
incidents occurred and no evidence or mention of inappropriate sexual behavior, or anything
else that might be considered criminal or delinquent behavior. This includes not
only his time at Whites, but also extending back to the 2000 molestation
incident. There is no evidence of other inappropriate sexual behavior either before
or after that incident. Cf. R.G., 793 N.E.2d at 239-40 (finding sufficient
evidence to support registration order where, inter alia, juvenile was sexually inappropriate with
three peers while in treatment facility and during treatment disclosed having had twenty-one
previous sexual partners, including three children and one passed-out woman). There is
also no expert opinion evidence in the record that B.B. was likely to
re-offend despite his treatment at Whites. Cf. M.L.H. v. State, 799 N.E.2d
1, 3 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003), trans. denied, (finding sufficient evidence to support
registry order where four experts testified that juvenile was at high risk to
re-offend); R.G., 793 N.E.2d at 239-40 (also noting expert opinion, prepared on discharge
from secure facility, that juvenile had demonstrated pedophilic interests and was at high
risk for recidivism); K.J.P., 724 N.E.2d at 616 (finding sufficient evidence to support
registration order after noting testimony of two experts at registration hearing that juvenile
was at high risk to re-offend).
See footnote
Under the circumstances, even if we were to assume without deciding that the
August 13, 2003 hearing was an adequate sex offender registry hearing and that
the juvenile court could rely on materials in the courts official record even
if they were not admitted into evidence at that hearing, the record before
us lacks clear and convincing evidence that B.B. is likely to commit another
sex offense. We know that psychologists deemed him to be troubled before
he entered Whites, but we also know that overall he was cooperative while
he was there, participated in extensive treatment there for almost a year and
a half, and apparently never acted out sexually except for the one fondling
incident in 2000. B.B.s behavior and cooperation might not have been perfect
while at Whites, but we do not think that absolute perfection in all
respects is required before a juvenile can be deemed sufficiently rehabilitated so as
to be unlikely to commit another sex offense. To conclude otherwise would
contravene the spirit and letter of the juvenile code generally and, specifically, Indiana
Code Section 5-2-12-4(b).