Donald E. Ford Violent Sex Offender Released 6/08 WI
Jury OKs release of sexual assault convict By Jeff Starck • Wausau Daily Herald • June 11, 2008 A man the state says is a potentially violent sex offender will be released today in Wausau after a Marathon County jury decided he is not a threat. The jury denied the Department of Corrections' request to keep Donald E. Ford, 47, locked up indefinitely. Ford was convicted in 1991 in Marathon County Circuit Court of forcing a woman to have sex with him in a car, said Mike Williams, supervisor of the Wausau office of Community Corrections. In addition, Ford was convicted in Florida for a similar incident in 1982, Williams said. Because Ford is a two-time offender and the Department of Corrections sought to have him committed as a sexually violent person, the state issued a public notice of his release. "We are not trying to scare the public," Williams said. "We just want them to know that a person is being released." Ford will stay at a transitional residence near the courthouse until a permanent home can be found, Williams said. Ford reportedly has been offered a job, Williams said. Ford was convicted Jan. 12, 1991, on two counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of false imprisonment. He was released from prison to parole supervision Nov. 4, 2003, but the parole was revoked Feb. 2, 2005, after he left Wisconsin in violation of the rules. Ford was released from parole March 6, 2006, but has been in state custody pending the outcome of the Department of Corrections' request. Marathon County has 291 residents, including jail inmates, on the state's sex offender registry. http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080611/WDH0101/806110680