Dane County Jury Finds Man To Be Sexually Violent Person
A Dane County jury has found a man to still be a sexually violent person under Wisconsin’s civil commitment law following a trial in the city of Madison.
After the jury found that Thornon Talley, 32, was still a sexually violent person and not eligible for discharge, Talley asked the court for supervised release. Dane County Circuit Court Judge Sarah O’Brien determined that Talley is not eligible for supervised release.
Under Wisconsin law, a person may be subject to a civil commitment when the person has been convicted of a sexually violent offense, has a mental disorder that predisposes the person to engage in acts of sexual violence, and is dangerous to others because the mental disorder makes it more likely than not that he or she will commit further acts of sexual violence.
A civil commitment is defined in Wisconsin law as commitment to the custody and care of the Department of Health Services for control, care and treatment until the person is no longer considered sexually violent. Talley was originally committed as a sexually violent person in January 2005. Talley had petitioned the court for a jury trial to determine if he was still a sexually violent person.
At trial, evidence was presented that Talley was ruled delinquent in 1989 of sexual contact with someone under the age of 16, convicted of two counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child in 1998, and was engaged in repeated acts of sexual assault of a different child in 1998, according to a news release from Wisconsin Department of Justice.
The news release said the evidence at trial demonstrated that since his commitment Talley has frequently engaged in acts of sexual misconduct and has had no sexual offender counseling.
At trial, psychological evaluators from the Department of Health Services and an independent examiner testified that Talley suffers from mental disorders that predispose him to engage in acts of sexual violence.
One of the evaluators also testified that Talley is dangerous as his mental disorders make it more likely than not that he will again engage in future acts of sexual violence.
