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Recent content from Larry Oakes

• Swollen river claims teen, rescuer
  Andrea Evans and Julie Steiskal, members of a Maple Grove church group, were sucked into the Temperance River.
  Jun 27, 2008
• This much is true: A family was ripped apart
  A troubled daughter's accusations of abuse in Palisade, Minn., led to 59 charges that were finally dropped in a mangled pursuit of justice.
  Jun 23, 2008
• Locked in limbo
  Minnesota commits a greater proportion of sex offenders to treatment lock-ups after prison than any other state. No one has been released, costs are mounting, and questions are increasing.
  Jun 13, 2008
• Project: Locked in limbo: Inside the Minnesota Sex Offender Program
  Minnesota has civilly committed 554 men and one woman to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP), designed to treat paroled sex offenders until they are no longer dangerous. The 2003 killing of Dru Sjodin triggered a surge of commitments. But the system's spiraling cost and lack of measurable success are causing growing unease.
  Jun 13, 2008
• OK'd for transfer, but going nowhere
  Mike Meyer remains locked up after completing all required treatment for sex offenders. An official rejected a recommendation for transfer as "premature."
  Jun 11, 2008
• Locked in limbo: 'They're all close calls now'
  The professionals in sex offender civil commitment cases follow established laws and criteria. But the law is broad, the science is fallible and many are uncomfortably aware that no one is being freed.
  Jun 11, 2008
• Judge smacks prosecutors for commitment try
  The jurist delivered a stinging denial to delay the release of an inmate recommended for a halfway house.
  Jun 10, 2008
• Two gained freedom, but no success stories
  Though the Minnesota Sex Offender Program has yet to discharge a single offender, two men did regain their freedom, each by different means and with a different result. Here's what happened:
  Jun 10, 2008
• A long-standing, thorny issue for Minnesota and the courts
  Scrutiny of sex-offender commitment dates back nearly 70 years.
  Jun 8, 2008
• All mothers of victims, each view unique
  These Minnesota mothers came to their views on sex offenders by the most painful route possible:
  Jun 8, 2008

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