In Re Commitment of Blakey

904 N.E.2d 40, 382 Ill. App. 3d 547, 328 Ill. Dec. 278, 2008 Ill. App. LEXIS 412
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 1, 2008
Docket4-07-0438
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 904 N.E.2d 40 (In Re Commitment of Blakey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Commitment of Blakey, 904 N.E.2d 40, 382 Ill. App. 3d 547, 328 Ill. Dec. 278, 2008 Ill. App. LEXIS 412 (Ill. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

JUSTICE COOK

delivered the opinion of the court:

In an 18-month reevaluation report performed in March 2007, Dr. Robert Brucker recommended that respondent, Robert W. Blakey, should (1) continue to be found a sexually violent person and (2) be ordered to conditional release in the community as long as he demonstrates a willingness to cooperate with his plan. On March 28, 2007, the State filed a motion for a finding of no probable cause under section 65(b)(1) of the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act to warrant an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Blakey is still a sexually violent person (725 ILCS 207/65(b)(1) (West 2006)). On April 27, 2007, the trial court conducted a probable-cause hearing to determine whether a further evidentiary hearing was necessary to determine whether Blakey was still a sexually violent person or whether Blakey was ready to be conditionally released. The court heard argument from the attorneys regarding the contents of Dr. Brucker’s report. In a written order that same day, the trial court entered an order finding no probable cause to warrant a further evidentiaiy hearing. Blakey appeals, arguing that, based on Dr. Brucker’s second recommendation, probable cause existed to warrant an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Blakey has made sufficient progress to be conditionally released or discharged. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Underlying Offense and Treatment History

In July 1999, Blakey pleaded guilty in Sangamon County circuit court to predatory criminal sexual abuse, and the court sentenced Blakey to 12 years’ imprisonment. People v. Blakey, No. 98—CF—571 (Sangamon County, July 1999). Blakey, age 32 in 1999, molested three family members who were under the age of 13. While in pretrial custody, Blakey bragged about the molestations to fellow inmates, referring to himself as the “iceman” because he was too slick to get caught. Blakey also told inmates that he did not regret his actions and that he planned on getting a job at a day care where he would be “a lot slicker” so as not to get caught the next time. Blakey continues to admit his actions and has recently told psychiatrists that, over the years, he has molested 10 females and males, aged 2 to 11.

In 1999, Blakey was given the opportunity to participate in a sex-offender treatment program but refused. In 2001, Blakey agreed to participate in the program. Blakey received treatment in the program from 2001 to 2003. However, Dr. Timothy Lawrence, a group therapist for the program, informed Blakey’s subsequent psychiatrist that:

“[Blakey’s] emotional commitment and involvement in [the program] was minimal. Progress was considered to be poor. [Blakey] was clinically viewed as an immature, non[ ]compliant[ ] participant in the group process. *** [He has] a poor prognosis for community adjustment.”

After receiving the aforementioned sex-offender treatment in the prison, Blakey apparently failed a subsequent screening process and was referred for detention with the Department of Health and Human Services.

In March 2004, after being in prison for less than five years, the State filed a petition to commit respondent pursuant to the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act (725 ILCS 207/1 through 99 (West 2004)). Following a mid-2005 bench trial, the trial court adjudicated Blakey a sexually violent person and committed Blakey to the Department of Health and Human Services for control, care, and treatment until the court determined Blakey to no longer be a sexually violent person. Blakey did not appeal the adjudication.

On March 17, 2006, Dr. Brucker performed a section 55 six-month reevaluation (725 ILCS 207/55 (West 2006) (requiring periodic reevaluations of committed persons)). Dr. Brucker noted that Blakey had stopped participating in the “CORE” treatment program and failed to participate in any sex-offender-specific treatment program during the six-month evaluation period. Instead, Blakey was, in a sense, demoted to a therapy program entitled “POWER to Change,” which was designed for offenders who struggled in the sexual-offense-specific programs. Dr. Brucker recommended that Blakey continue to be found a sexually violent person and remain committed to a secure facility for sex-offender treatment.

B. The Section 55 18-Month Reevaluation

In March 2007, Dr. Brucker performed the 18-month reevaluation pursuant to section 55 that is at issue in the instant appeal. 725 ILCS 207/55 (West 2006). The evaluation concluded that Blakey continued to suffer from a mental disorder, namely pedophilia (sexually attracted to both genders, nonexclusive type), combined with a personality disorder (not otherwise specified, with antisocial traits). Dr. Brucker stated that “due to [Blakey’s] mental disorders, it [is] substantially probable that [Blakey] will engage in future acts of sexual violence.”

Dr. Brucker performed several psychological tests on Blakey, which revealed that Blakey (1) had fantasies about sexually touching children and found the idea of touching children to be slightly arousing; (2) strongly disagreed with the statement, “sex between a 13-year-old (or younger) child and an adult causes the child emotional problems”; (3) demonstrated significant sexual interest in preschool, adolescent, and adult females; and (4) demonstrated significant sexual interest in sexual stories involving male and female infants, male (coercive and persuasive storylines) and female (persuasive) preschool children, male (coercive) and female (coercive and persuasive) grammar-school children, and female teens (persuasive). Dr. Brucker believed that Blakey attempted to interfere with response patterns on these tests in 9 of 22 segments.

Since the last evaluation, Blakey continued to participate in the POWER treatment program, but still had not participated in the sex-offender-specific CORE treatment program. Blakey told Dr. Brucker that, through the POWER program, he had improved his anger-management skills, his ability to analyze his feelings, and his relationships with other residents.

Based on the reevaluation, Dr. Brucker recommended that Blakey should (1) continue to be found a sexually violent person, and (2) be ordered to conditional release in the community as long as he demonstrates a willingness to cooperate with his plan. Concurrent with the section 55 reevaluation, Blakey received notice stating:

“If you do not sign [a] waiver form, the [c]ourt [will] begin the process it must follow to determine if you have made enough progress to be conditionally released or discharged. This means the [c]ourt will set a probable[-]cause hearing where it will be reviewing the examiner’s report of your examination. *** If the [c]ourt believes you have made enough progress to be transferred to conditional release or discharge, a fall hearing will be set.”

Following the 18-month reevaluation, Blakey did not file a petition for conditional release or a petition for discharge.

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Related

In re Commitment of Kirst
2015 IL App (2d) 140532 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2015)
In re Detention of Lieberman
2011 IL App (1st) 90796 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
904 N.E.2d 40, 382 Ill. App. 3d 547, 328 Ill. Dec. 278, 2008 Ill. App. LEXIS 412, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-commitment-of-blakey-illappct-2008.