Therapist proposes 'central containment'

Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 23, 2007 at midnight

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Therapist Greig Veeder not only thinks that sex offenders should live together in a house - he proposes that hundreds of them be housed together in a large residential facility.

Veeder treats about 50 sex offenders who already are living together in homes through his Teaching Humane Existence program.

But he contends that the best solution for public safety and treatment is housing sex offenders together in a central containment facility that would be large enough to support in-house sex offender programs and 24-hour- a-day staffing, he said.

The point is, Veeder said, that whether they are sentenced to probation or released from prison, most sex offenders eventually come back to the community, and more than half of them re-offend.

"The majority will re-offend unless we control them in the community," Veeder said.

"All the evidence suggests that they need residential containment. The more we can control where sex offenders live in our communities, the safer we will be."

Lifelong supervision is needed because repetitive sex offenders have personality disorders and are unlikely to change their behavior, he said.

Veeder doesn't suggest a particular location for his mega- sex-offender house, but said such a site could be found that fits two key requirements - a low-density population area away from residential areas, but close to transportation for getting to work.

Sue Lindsay

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