W.J.S. v. State

512 S.W.3d 688

W.J.S., Appellant

v.STATE of Arkansas, Appellee

No. CR–15–895

Court of Appeals of Arkansas, DIVISION III.

Opinion Delivered February 1, 2017

Lisa–Marie Norris, for appellant.

Leslie Rutledge, Att'y Gen., Little Rock, by: Brooke Jackson, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.

RITA W. GRUBER, Chief Judge

On September 17, 2015, the Circuit Court of Crawford County entered an order requiring W.J.S. to register as a juvenile sex offender. W.J.S. appealed to our court, contending that (1) the State's motion for registration should have been dismissed and (2) the circuit court clearly erred in ruling that he be required to register and in failing to make specific written findings on statutory factors. We affirmed on the first point but remanded on the second, instructing the circuit court to enter an order that satisfied the requirements of Arkansas Code Annotated section 9–27–356 (Repl. 2015). See W.J.S. v. State , 2016 Ark. App. 310, 495 S.W.3d 649. On remand, the circuit court entered an amended order comporting with our mandate. A supplemental record containing the amended order has been lodged in our court, and W.J.S. has filed a supplemental addendum to his original brief. We hold that the circuit court did not clearly err, and we affirm.

In making its decision to require a juvenile to register as a delinquent sex offender, the circuit court shall consider the following factors:

(i) The seriousness of the offense;

(ii) The protection of society;

(iii) The level of planning and participation in the alleged offense;

(iv) The previous sex offender history of the juvenile, including whether the juvenile has been adjudicated delinquent for prior sex offenses;

(v) Whether there are facilities or programs available to the court that are likely to rehabilitate the juvenile prior to the expiration of the court's jurisdiction;

(vi) The sex offender assessment and any other relevant written reports and other materials relating to the juvenile's mental, physical, educational, and social history; and

(vii) Any other factors deemed relevant by the court.

Ark. Code Ann. § 9–27–356(e)(2)(A). The circuit court shall make written findings on all factors of subsection (e) and shall enter its order upon a finding by clear and convincing evidence that the juvenile should or should not be required to register as a sex offender. Ark. Code Ann. § 9–27–356(f)(1), (2).

The State's motion prayed that W.J.S. be ordered to register as a juvenile sex offender. The motion stated in part,

Based on the Community Notification Risk Assessment, it is the recommendation of Helen Chambers, LCSW, that [W.J.S.] continue to receive sex offender specific treatment, that he be required to live in a structured setting where he can be closely supervised and should not be in a home with younger children, and that he continue to have an adequate adult supervisor that is aware of his deviate sexual history and shall continue to follow his sex offender safety plan that shall include rules and guidelines that will reduce his contact with younger or more vulnerable individuals when contact is unavoidable. Additionally, it is recommended that [W.J.S.] be ordered to register as a Sex Offender, assisted by his Juvenile Probation Officer....

The circuit court found by clear and convincing evidence in its amended order that W.J.S. should be required to register as a sex offender. As for statutory factors to be considered, the amended order included the following written findings: (i) W.J.S.'s offense of fourth-degree sexual assault, which had been amended from Class Y felony rape, was a serious and forceful offense, and W.J.S. had acknowledged on two occasions that he sexually assaulted his five-year-old sister; (ii) the sex-offender assessment indicated that the likelihood of reoffending was high, therefore warranting the need for registration and notice to the community; (iii) the report further indicated that W.J.S.'s level of planning and participation in the offense was high, including his act of secluding himself and the victim in a closet where an offense was committed; (iv) his previous sexual history was "significant for this hearing as there are offenses mentioned in the report which are not charged in this court but indicate ... a propensity to re-offend"; (v) W.J.S. had exhausted the facilities available to rehabilitate him prior to expiration of the court's jurisdiction, having been placed in Piney Ridge and committing an offense against another juvenile while in placement there; (vi) the court had fully reviewed the sex-offender assessment and recommendation relating to W.J.S.'s mental, physical, educational, and social history; and (vii) the court had fully reviewed testimony of Helen Chambers and her recommendation that W.J.S. be registered as a sex offender.

In making its decision, the circuit court considered the testimony of Helen Chambers—a therapist in the family treatment program in the University of Arkansas Medical School's Department of Pediatrics—and the risk assessment of fourteen-year-old W.J.S. that she performed in July 2015. Ms. Chambers testified that she had obtained W.J.S.'s history of offenses and treatment from investigative reports, court documents, a psychosexual assessment-and-discharge summary from Piney Ridge Center; records from Lakeland Behavioral Health Systems; and records from Dayspring Behavioral Health Services. She stated that W.J.S. had been charged with the sexual...