A 23-year-old man convicted of a myriad of sex-crimes will be released from an Iowa prison after claiming he now identifies as a woman.
According to the Storm Lake Times, Iowa officials determined that Joseph Matthew Smith’s reduction in testosterone levels following his ‘transition’ puts him at a lower risk of re-offending.
Smith, who was convicted of molesting a fellow student at Midwest Christian Services, also reportedly molested up to 15 children under the age of 13 before being sentenced to prison in 2015, the Iowa Sex Offender Registry reveals.
At the time, the report found that Smith had a greater than 20 percent chance of re-offending within five years of his release because his victims were both genders and because he was under 25 and never had a long term relationship.
“Mr Smith has not had an intimate relationship,” the report said. “His sexual encounters appear to have primarily involved molestation, including his own molestation by multiple perpetrators, or his victimization of others.”
The report recommended Smith be confined in the Cherokee Civil Commitment Unit for Sex Offenders for an indefinite period, however, it was “premised on Smith having the sex drive of a man.”
According to The Times, since becoming ‘Josie’, the risk of re-offending is harder to prove when an offender significantly lowers his testosterone levels, which has a significantly higher impact on sex drive than estrogen.
Attorney general spokesperson Lynn Hicks said, “an offender’s hormone levels are an important part of substantiating an offender’s likelihood of recidivism.
“We don’t believe we have evidence sufficient to prove Josie Smith has a significant chance of reoffending.”
Hicks went on to say, following his release, Smith will undergo strict sex-offender reporting and will be subject to supervision for the rest of his life.
