CO- Father of sexual predator: Son wants to go back to prison

4-18-2008 Colorado:

The father of a Longmont man designated by the state as a "sexually violent predator" said his son intentionally violated the terms of his parole so he could go back to prison and fight the label.

Sean Christopher Jackson, 22, turned himself in at the Boulder County Jail on Wednesday after staying out drinking with his friends four hours past his 7:30 p.m. curfew Tuesday, according to his father, Dwight Jackson.

Sean Jackson is being held at the jail without bond, and a court hearing had not been set in his case Thursday.

Dwight Jackson said his son, who was living at the family’s Longmont home, at 1706 Lashley St., following his release from prison earlier this year, has received several threats and didn’t feel safe living outside of prison anymore.

“There were two separate instances where guys were staring him down,” Dwight Jackson said. “He decided he’d be safer in jail.”

Sean Jackson had been wearing a GPS-monitoring device as another condition of his parole, and received a call from his supervising officer shortly before midnight Tuesday telling him to surrender to authorities the next day, his father said.

The technical parole violation carries a mandatory six-month prison term, Dwight Jackson said.

Sean Jackson was arrested in March 2004 at the age of 18 after two teens — ages 14 and 15 — told authorities he gave them alcohol and sexually assaulted them. He denied the accusations but pleaded guilty to lesser charges to spare a possible life sentence, his father said.

According to court records, Sean Jackson pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault and third-degree assault and was sentenced to two years of probation. Probation officers said he was sent to prison to finish his sentence because he failed to register as a sex offender and violated other conditions of his probation, but was eventually released in January.

Dwight Jackson said Thursday that his son again violated parole also because he’ll have time to focus on fighting the label of sexually violent predator — a lifelong designation given to him not upon conviction but after a later assessment by the Colorado Parole Board.

Designated predators must register as sex offenders, and law enforcement offices must hold a public meeting every time one moves into a community.

In January, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle asked residents living nearby the Jacksons’ home to keep their eyes open for suspicious activity, but warned against engaging in “vigilante justice.”

Dwight Jackson said his son never would have agreed to the plea arrangement if he’d known the label would be applied to him following an evaluation by the Colorado Department of Corrections.

“He has a leash,” his father said. “You get a taste of freedom, but you’re not free.”

He said his son can’t find a place to live on his own, because no one wants a registered sex offender renting property.

Sean Jackson’s two sisters, ages 16 and 17, also had to leave home while he was staying there because he isn’t allowed contact with any minors, Dwight Jackson said.

He said his son plans to use the time in prison to find an attorney willing to file an appeal with the parole board.

On March 26, Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law a bill sponsored by Rep. Dianne Primavera, D-Broomfield, designed to change the way people convicted of sexual crimes receive the label.

The new law, which will not apply retroactively to Jackson, requires that the judge handing down an offender’s sentence also determine whether that person gets the sexually violent predator label.

“If they really are SVPs they need to be labeled that,” Primavera said. “But the best thing to do is to make sure the label is put on correctly ... before the person is referred” to the Department of Corrections. ..more.. Heath Urie at 303-473-1328 or urieh@dailycamera.com.