Special Progress Report: Idaho Department of Correction to Judge Stegner
December 17, 2015
Honorable Judge Stegner
District Judge
Latah County Courthouse
Moscow, Idaho
RE: Sitler, Steven
Case: CR05-2027
Judge Stegner:
On October 1, 2015, this officer assumed supervision of Steven Sitler’s case and he was transferred to the Lewiston office to be placed on the sex offender supervision caseload. This officer has reviewed the file extensively along with all contact notes dating back to 2006 when IDOC began first supervising this case. This officer outlines the following conditions per IDOC that will be placed on Mr. Sitler in order to manage his case effectively and meet the guidelines of community safety.
In regards to the recent disclosures and issues with Mr. Sitler involving his infant son and prior disclosures made to chaperones with a failure to report to probation or treatment, three (3) chaperones were removed from chaperone status. Katherine Sitler, Roxanne Sitler, and David Sitler have not been approved to chaperone Mr. Sitler at this time. However, all three (3) individuals were allowed to retake the chaperone class in November 2015 along with five (5) other potential chaperones in addition to the seven (7) currently approved chaperones that are in place making a total of thirteen (13) chaperones for one (1) sex offender. There were approximately seven (7) other sex offenders besides Mr. Sitler that have been on the list a lengthy period of time and have either lost chaperones or do not have chaperones that had individuals in this class as well. Since November 2015 this officer has only been able to schedule three (3) finalized chaperone meetings around normal and additional duties for these offenders as they have priority. All potential chaperones are required to have a final meeting with the probation/parole officer where the criminal history, risk warning signs, potential liability issues and rules are discussed. At that point the probation/parole officer signs the official documentation for each chaperone and finalizes their status as approved or disapproved. Separate meetings will need to be scheduled in this case for Roxanne Sitler, David Sitler, Katherine Sitler, and the other five (5) potential chaperones as there are different issues that need to be addressed and documented before a final approval is made. Roxanne Sitler will be scheduled for this meeting in January or early February 2016. Katherine and David Sitler will not be scheduled until Valley Treatment Specialties has met with these two individuals one-on-one to address the previous reporting issues and provide detailed documentation to IDOC that they have satisfactorily met the requirements of future chaperone status. The remaining five (5) chaperones will be met with as a group in February 2016. Mr. Sitler has seven (7) current and active chaperones that have been allowed to continue supervising contacts with him and his infant son amongst other activities where there is a high likelihood he will come into contact with children.
In addition to the chaperone removal, Mr. Sitler was directed to have no contact with the prior victims or victim families. There is a lack of documentation regarding Valley Treatment Specialties allowing this contact with the exception of one victim, [redacted]. The concern on the part of IDOC has been for the victims who are unaware of the fact that they were victims even if the parents were aware of the victimization. The secrecy surrounding this issue has been portrayed as wanting to protect the victims from finding out they are victims or otherwise “protecting their anonymity”. However, the sexual offending cycle is based on secrecy and manipulation that is addressed in a treatment setting and granting such contact is outside IDOC’s scope of practice in terms of supervision. Therefore IDOC has deferred to Valley Treatment Specialties to make a treatment decision on this contact. IDOC has asked Valley Treatment Specialties to present a formal written response that will be documented and the recommendation of that response will be followed by IDOC.
Mr. Sitler was directed by IDOC to live outside of his residence until further notice due to the issues involving his deviant sexual fantasies regarding the infant. No decision is being made at this time for Mr. Sitler to move back in the home as Valley Treatment Specialties has not addressed the issue of reunification or an ongoing safety plan regarding the infant. However, Mr. Sitler will be required to submit to a polygraph every three (3) months for his term of supervision and a plesythmograph upon his son’s third (3) birthday regardless of any future decision that is made involving his living arrangements.
It is this officer’s position that a balance must be made in terms of community protection and rehabilitation of this offender. Both of these areas are addressed with this current plan along a path of cautious scrutiny due to the history in this case and Mr. Sitler’s diagnosis as a fixated pedophile in 2005 who “under no circumstances should be allowed to be around children unsupervised”.
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Jensen
Senior Probation/Parole Officer
