Last Updated on March 9, 2020
An Iowa inmate who was thought to have sexually abused up to fifteen children between ages 1-13 is to be released after he was deemed a minimal risk to reoffend as his testosterone levels had dropped during a gender transition.
The decision, based on the inmate’s testosterone levels, also sets a dangerous narrative implying that women can’t also be sexual predators–something which is disproved on an almost daily basis.
In a previous article on this high profile case, National File reported:
An Iowa pedophile who was convicted of molesting 15 children–including a baby–is to be released from prison after transitioning to become a woman.
The convict, Josie Smith, 23, is to be freed from jail after hormones from a gender transition lowered Smith’s testosterone levels.Smith had spent four years behind bars after being convicted. Smith was sentenced before transitioning or taking hormones, and therefore, would have had the regular hormone levels of a man.
At the time of Smith’s conviction, he was sentenced to an indefinite period behind bars due to having a more manly sex drive.
However, due to hormone therapy and drastic reductions in Smith’s testosterone levels, it is believed that Smith’s chances of reoffending have become negligible, officials report.
Smith began gender reassignment treatment two years into the indefinite sentence, after being jailed in 2015 for molesting a student when Smith went by the name ‘Joseph.’
According to Metro, a pre-sentencing report recommended that Smith be jailed for a lengthy period of time as it was discovered that he had molested 15 children between the ages of 1 to 13.
Following the plan to release Smith, it was implied that the convict would not be reintegrated into society without monitoring.
The state of Iowa has minimum requirements for releasing criminals of this nature.
According to the case, adding weight to the convict’s argument,National File reported:
In Iowa, criminal prosecutors need to prove that the likelihood of a convict reoffending exceeds 51% if they are to be sentenced for the rest of their life.
The fact that Smith was under 25, never had a long-term relationship, and abused both girls and boys, in addition with significantly lowering his testosterone levels all contributed to his likelihood to reoffend falling to around 20%.
On the decision to free Smith, Iowa Attorney General spokesman Lynn Hicks said: “We don’t believe we have evidence sufficient to prove Josie Smith has a significant chance of re-offending.”
According to the Washington Examiner, Smith was convicted of second-degree sexual abuse against a (female) victim in 2012 and lascivious acts with a child (male) in 2014.
Smith was sentenced to prison in 2015, before commencing his gender transition in 2017.
