SEX OFFENDER BACK IN CUSTODY

A level 3 sex offender who walked away from a supervised release program is back in custody today. Clarence Robinson, 39, was taken into custody at 3 a.m. Sunday morning when Minneapolis police responded to a break-in at Anwatin Middle School. At the time of his arrest, Robinson was in possession of burglary tools, a bag of food items and a bicycle that had apparently been taken from the schoolyard.

Robinson was released from the Stillwater state prison on October 27, 2011, after completing his required sentence for a 1997 burglary and sexual assault conviction. A risk assessment performed by the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) found that Robinson qualified for Intensive Supervised Release (ISR), the closest form of monitoring available for offenders who have been released into the community after serving their prison sentences. On November 1, 2011, Robinson cut off a GPS-monitored ankle bracelet and walked away from a Minneapolis halfway house where he had been living.

Under Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines offenders are released into the community under supervision after serving two-thirds of their sentence in prison. Any violation of the terms of supervised release could result in the offender being sent back to prison where their potential risk to the community would be reevaluated. In some instances, offenders are released again with a modified supervision plan, in other cases they are required to serve additional time in prison.

However, the DOC cannot add additional time to the offender’s sentence, unless a court finds him guilty of a new crime and imposes an additional sentence. Robinson was sentenced to 204 months in 1997. That is the longest he can either be held in prison or on supervised release by the DOC. His sentence is set to expire July 11, 2014.

Hennepin County prosecutors will now decide if they will formally charge Robinson with the burglary of the Anwatin Middle School. If he is convicted, he may have to serve additional prison time.