People v. Smith

Smith (plaintiff) was convicted of multiple sexually violent offenses against his prepubescent male relatives. The offenses occurred over a period of 13 years and resulted in multiple episodes of incarceration. Smith did not display pedophilic tendencies while incarcerated but reoffended almost immediately after each release. Smith refused to cooperate with psychotherapy to address his pedophilia . During Smith’s most recent incarceration, the State of California (defendant) moved to involuntarily and indefinitely incarcerate Smith pursuant to the Sexually Violent Predator Act (SVAP), arguing that Smith suffered from a mental disorder, pedophilia, which made him likely to engage in future sexually violent, criminal behavior if released. At trial, the state presented three expert witnesses, all of whom testified that Smith was a pedophile with a repeated pattern of sexually violent behavior, that he had difficulty controlling his pedophilic behavior, that he was likely to commit future sexually violent acts against children, and that his behavior was predatory. Smith’s behavior was classified as predatory because he cultivated close relationships with his child relatives to create opportunities for molestation. In response, Smith presented his own expert, who opined that Smith was not a pedophile because he only molested his own relatives rather than unrelated children and had not recently reoffended. The jury ruled that Smith was a sexually violent predator (SVP) who should be indefinitely incarcerated. Smith appealed, arguing that he could not be classified as an SVP because he had not recently committed sexually violent acts.