Medidas post-penitenciarias aplicables a los delincuentes sexuales: una visión desde el derecho norteamericano

Abstract

Nowadays the media, the society and the public authorities are considering wat the State should do to prevent further offenses committed by some individuals convicted of extreme sexual offences. Although these ideas are not new, the issue has become especially relevant as a result of the repeal of the “Parot” doctrine by the ECHR and the consequent release of certain prisoners. In Spain exists the possibility of imposing a supervised release after the fulfillment of the imprisonment since the entry in force of the LO 5/2010, although other States have been implemented post-prison measures aimed at dangerous offenders since far away. Among these, United States has been the pioneer in the implementation of these types of measures, so the purpose of this analysis is to present the post-penal measures regulated in this country to address the dangerousness of sexual offenders. For this purpose, in this article it will be addressed the legal regulation of these measures and will be referred the results of some empirical studies about its effectiveness. Once it will have been done, it is intended to obtain sufficient knowledge of the utility of post-penal measures against sex offenders in North America in order to consider its possible introduction in the Spanish criminal justice system.