Sexual predator committed to hospital after prison release
By the Associated Press

Published February 26, 2004

ROANOKE, Va. -- A man who has sexually assaulted children and adults over 30 years on Thursday became the first Roanoke resident declared a sexually violent predator and committed to a state facility after his release from prison on criminal charges.

Those targeted under Virginia's civil commitment law may no longer have prison time to serve, but authorities consider them a danger to their communities.

Experts in the case say it may be the first real treatment that James Rodney Lester has had. At the same time, the public will be safe from the danger Lester still poses, an assistant attorney general said.

Lester's record includes convictions for attempting to fondle children during a church bus ride and of sexually assaulting a woman who was strapped to a neck board in an ambulance. His recent association with another convicted sex offender ended with assaults on 16-month-old twins.

"There is nothing to show he has gained control of his impulses," Assistant Attorney General Angela Axselle said.

After hearing about two hours of testimony, Roanoke Circuit Judge Jonathan Apgar concluded that Lester belongs in a state hospital for at least a year of treatment. The court will decide whether Lester will ever be released.

Lester is one of at least 20 sex offenders in Virginia targeted under a 1999 civil commitment law that state lawmakers only recently funded. At least two others have also been committed to the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services after judges ruled that they were continuing threats.

Lester's attorney, Richard Derrico, said there was no dispute that Lester is a pedophile, but that he could be treated as an outpatient while living with his mother in Roanoke.

The 49-year-old Lester has admitted molesting at least 15 children, experts testified. Authorities have identified eight of them, ranging in age from 16 months to 8 years old at the time they were assaulted, Axselle told the judge.

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It seems to me to be a contradiction to send a man to jail and at the same time committ him to a mental hospital after his release. Either the man is mentally ill or he is not, either he is responsible for his crimes or he is not. Only with regard to pedophilia, can you have it both ways I guess.

DS