Women Predators No Repeat Threat?

A Missouri appeals court Tuesday overturned an order keeping a woman committed indefinitely as a violent sexual predator, ruling there is little evidence proving women convicted of sex crimes are likely to become repeat offenders.

The state pledged to appeal the ruling by the Missouri Court of Appeals, which decided that claims Angela Coffel probably would become a repeat offender were "based on private, subjective and untested theories."

Coffel, 26, is the only woman in Missouri being held indefinitely as a violent sexual predator. She pleaded guilty in 1996 to two sodomy counts involving two brothers, ages 14 and 11.

Coffel served a five-year sentence, but before she could be released from prison the state petitioned the judge to keep her in custody. A judge agreed in 2001 to confine her indefinitely at a state mental health facility.

Coffel will remain at a mental hospital pending appeals, a state Department of Mental Health spokeswoman said.

The three-judge appellate panel said little research has been done on female sex offenders, but cited one study showing the recidivism rate among women was less than 2 percent.

Attorney General Jay Nixon said Missouri will argue in its appeal to the state Supreme Court that freeing Coffel because of her gender creates a double standard.

"Clearly there are far fewer sexual predators who are women, but that doesn't mean she's not one," he said.

The state has argued that Coffel is likely to become a repeat offender because she suffers from a personality disorder and alcohol abuse, and has cited two witnesses who testified that Coffel has "absolutely no control" over her sexual behavior.

By Jim Suhr