Darcy Powell - Sex Offender to be released June 25, 2008/WI
Sex offender to live on Highway 12 News Republic A Kenosha man under supervision after a 1996 sexual assault conviction is coming to live in Sauk County, and the Sauk County Sheriff's Department is holding an informational meeting on his placement from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. today. The meeting is in the Sauk County Law Enforcement Center community room, which is at 1300 Lange Court, just west of Farm and Fleet in Baraboo. The placement of Darcy Powell in Sauk County was ordered by the court, according to a press release by Capt. Kevin J. Fults of the Sheriff's Department. Powell is under the intensive supervision of state probation and parole officers based in Baraboo while officials search for a place for him in Kenosha County, according to the release. He was convicted of second-degree sexual assault of a child in February 1996, Fults said. He has been supervised since that time and has been participating in all required sex offender treatment programs. According to Wisconsin's online court records Web site, Powell's penalty included a five-year prison term and 20 years on probation. Details about Powell's situation cannot be released because he is held under a sex offender law that considers him a patient at this time rather than a criminal, said Stephanie Marquis of the state Department of Health and Family Services. He has been placed in Sauk County after a court decision that he can live safely in the community with proper restrictions and monitoring. "Protecting the public is our first priority," she said. (Typical supervision includes) GPS monitoring, regular residence checks, regular lie detector tests, (and) escorting the individual," Marquis said. "There's very strict limitations on where they can go and who they can have contact with," she said. "Any sort of deviance from that, any minor infraction of that can result in them being revoked and sent back to a secure (treatment) facility." Marquis would not say why Powell is in Baraboo. But sex offenders who cannot be placed in their home area at a given time can be housed in another area if the court orders it, she said. "It depends on what the court orders us to do and what may be available in the community," she said. Powell will be living at a residence on Highway 12 and will arrive sometime after June 25, according to Fults' statement. Residents of nearby homes and businesses in the area where he will live will be notified by bulletins. Powell is not wanted by law enforcement authorities, Fults said. It is illegal harass or intimidate a registered sex offender. http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr/news//292974