Clarence Opheim will be the first patient released from Minnesota's sex offender program in more than a decade. Police say their public meeting is not meant to spread fear, but to educate the public about the terms of Opheim's release to a halfway house.
Clarence Opheim will be living in a halfway house once he's released from the secured sex offender treatment facility in St. Peter. The Golden Valley Police Department is holding a notification meeting March 5. The 64-year-old convicted sex offender has admitted to committing 100 sex crimes in the late 1980s.
The new law requires that neighbors be notified if someone released from the state's sex offender treatment program moves in nearby. Previously, it only applied to offenders released from prison. Gov. Mark Dayton signed the bill after it was unanimously approved by the Senate. A patient is due to be released from the treatment program next month.
The House bill would apply to Clarence Opheim, who could be released from the sex offender program as early as this weekend. Existing law has no provision for notifying neighbors of the halfway house where he'll be living.