Fredrick DeWayne Stewart, Non Supervised, Iowa
Convicted sex offender to be released Rachel Gallegos • Iowa City Press-Citizen • January 28, 2009 A man convicted in Johnson County as a sex offender is one of 15 convicted sex offenders scheduled for release without supervision following two recent Iowa Supreme Court decisions. Fredrick DeWayne Stewart was charged with domestic abuse assault without intent in connection with an incident April 21, 2000. He was admitted Oct. 13, 2000. Fred Scaletta, Department of Corrections spokesman, said Stewart was released Wednesday from the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. The two court decisions override the Department of Corrections’ interpretation of Iowa Code to suspend “earned time” — or good behavior credits — if an offender refuses to participate or fails Sex Offender Treatment Programming until they complete the programming. The Department of Corrections decided that the ruling in the case of Mount Pleasant inmate Denny Propp should be applied to other sex offenders in the state prison system. The ruling applies to offenders whose offense was committed prior to an amendment to this section of the Iowa Code, effective Jan. 1, 2001. Johnson County Sheriff Lt. Raquel Wray said that although Stewart was convicted in Johnson County, “we don’t know if Mr. Stewart will be coming back to Johnson County or not.” The Department of Corrections made the announcement Monday about the releases. The goal was to release all 15 within 48 hours, but some might be in custody longer to find transportation, Scaletta said. “Last thing we’re going to do is just open the door and let them out,” he said. Since these sex offenders are ending their sentence and will not be supervised, they did not need to provide the Department of Corrections with an address for where they were headed. They did, however, have to complete paperwork for the Iowa Sex Offender Registry before their release, Scaletta said. “It’ll be there shortly,” Scaletta said. The Iowa Sex Offender Registry is available online at http://www.iowasexoffender.com. The Des Moines Register contributed to this report.