Sex offender faces commitment hearing
MORRIS, Minn. - The Stevens County Attorney's Office has asked a court to determine if a man who was found guilty of sexual assaults in Stevens and Kandiyohi counties should be committed to a sex offender program indefinitely or released.
Jerry Everett Pahl, 40, who listed his last address in Hancock, Minn., was scheduled to be released from prison on Monday after serving a prison sentence for felony domestic assault. At a hearing Monday, the court ordered that Pahl, a Level 3 sex offender, remain in prison until the results of the civil commitment petition are determined at a hearing in November.
If Pahl is deemed to be a "sexually dangerous person," he will be committed to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program and sent to a secure treatment facility in Moose Lake, Minn.
In 1990, when Pahl was 18, he was convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. In 2007, Pahl was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in Kandiyohi County in a case involving a female vulnerable adult.
Pahl is currently being held at the Kandiyohi County jail in Willmar, Minn. The court will appoint an independent examiner to provide an assessment of whether Pahl should be committed. The commitment petition lists Pahl's nearest relatives living in Hancock, Willmar, Alexandria and Sauk Centre, Minn.