Violating Probation or Parole

Sex offenders often violate their probation and are sentenced to jail or are sent back to prison. These are just the latest teachers in trouble for violating the terms and conditions of their parole or supervised release.

April 1 - Carrie McCandless was returned to jail for 30 days for violation of her parole. She is still married to the school principal, but her probation officer found her in bed while visiting another parolee. Such encounters are forbidden without permission under intensive supervision. She is a registered sex offender. TT entry for McCandless

April 1 - Holly Spreen [non-sex offender] was sentenced to 27 days in jail after being arrested for drunk driving after being placed on probation for prior drunk driving arrests. TT entry for Spreen

March 31 - A judge determined that Matthew Glasser was in violation of his parole for not deleting his e-mail and MySpace accounts. Instead, he transferred them to his father's name. He also failed to find adequate housing. He will be sentenced June 3. He remains in jail until then. Glasser is also a registered sex offender. TT entry for Glasser

March 17 - Sentenced in September 2007 to five years' probation for sex with a 14-year-old girl, Dustin Powers, was declared a Tier 3 Sex Offender. He was arrested after violating his parole in having sexual contact with the same girl, now 15. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison for violating his probation. He has now been indicted on three charges. (Tier 3 Sex Offenders are the most likely to reoffend, which probably makes you wonder, like it did us, how a judge would sentence him to probation in the first place.) TT entry for Powers

Feb 26 - Lauren Palmer sentenced August 2007 to two years' probation for -- as the judge termed it, for thing that appears to be a relatively minor, isolated incident - having inappropriate sexual contact with a 16-year-old girl. Arrested for violation of parole Feb 26. TT entry for Palmer

Dec 4, 2007 - Debra LaFave was arrested for parole violation. At a January hearing, Circuit Judge J. Rogers Padgett determined Lafave violated terms of her house arrest by having private conversations with a 17-year-old girl but the violation was not "willful." Lafave, therefore, was not punished for the violation. Tt entry for LaFave
Interestingly, this year alone, five Tampa, FL teachers have been arrested or sentenced for sex with students. Two others have resigned or been suspended for inappropriate behavior.

What being a registered sex offender means in Minnesota.