Summary of case

Sera vs. State is a court case about Steven A. Sera, a sex offender. One day his wife Nancy found a videotape that depicted Sera (her husband) performing sexual acts involving multiple women. They were unconscious, sedated with a date rape drug called Rohypnol. In 1998 in Arkansas, Sera was convicted of three counts of introduction a controlled substance into the body of another person, two counts of kidnapping, one count of first-degree sexual abuse, one count of attempted rape and one count of rape. Sera’s federal habeas corpus petition was ultimately refused after the convictions were upheld on appeal. In 1999, Sera entered a guilty plea in Texas for second-degree sexual assault of a woman there; during the assault, he sedated the victim and then anally penetrated her while recording the incident on camera. In Missouri, Sera entered a guilty plea in 2002 to many charges of felony sexual assault against a young woman he was married to; at least once, Sera recorded their interactions on camera.

Role of forensic professional Fast forward to 2017, Sera had an opportunity to request parole. A forensic psychologist and social worker performed various assessments to deem whether he’s eligible. The forensic psychologist here thought it was best to assess him with the Sex Offender Community Notification Assessment (SOCNA) due to his history of criminal convictions and inclination to drug and rape women. He was also interviewed by the forensic psychologist to see if further assessments needed to be done also. In addition to the SOCNA, the used RSVP as well.

Characteristics of Assessments The SOCNA is an assessment I which does an extensive search of sex offense charges, allegations, convictions; an interview with the sex offender for truth verification purposes (to ask about undisclosed victims as well). It ultimately exposes undetected victims for offenses that went under the radar, for which can impact public safety if the person was released on parole. Once assessment is done, sexual offense recidivism is determined, which takes account of factors such as offense, age, and gender of victims. Also, accessibility to victims, relationship status, prior offenses, criminal history, stranger victims, and extra familial victims. This is multifaceted, well-rounded assessment which puts offender under scrutiny to ensure the right protocol is taken.

Implications With all evidence gathered, Sera was diagnosed with an “Unspecified Paraphilic Disorder.” With the pattern of manipulation, drugs, force, and multiple offenses; he had severe antisocial personality characteristics which put him at a level 4. Level 4 deemed his as a sexually dangerous person (SDP).  This indicates that community notification visibility is required. This led to the circuit court’s order be reversed.

References

Flynn, Sheri. Arkansas Department of Corrections, Sex Offender Community Notification Assessment. https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=/Assembly/Meeting+Attachments/000/4731/Exhibit+H.03(a)+-+DOC+-+APB+July+2021.pdf

Sex Offender Assessment Comm. v. Sera, 2023 Ark. App. 239, 666 S.W.3d 862 (Ark. Ct. App. 2023)

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