Photo via IowaSexOffender.gov.

An Iowa man who is said to have committed multiple sexual crimes against minors as young as one-year-old is no longer deemed a threat to society because he now identifies as a woman. “She” is now being prepped for eventual release from prison.

The decision was made by the Iowa Attorney General’s office, reports the Des Moines Register:

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office is no longer seeking the commitment of a former Midwest Christian Services student convicted of myriad sex crimes because the individual now identifies as a woman.

Court records show the state dismissed the application on Jan. 9. Attorney general spokesman Lynn Hicks wouldn’t comment on the reason for the dismissal other than to say “an offender’s hormone levels are an important part of substantiating an offender’s likelihood of recidivism.”

In November, the Storm Lake Times reported that Joseph Matthew Smith, a 23-year-old convicted of molesting a fellow MCS student in 2014, was “undergoing medical treatment that is needed prior to (Smith) potentially undergoing gender reassignment surgery.”

Smith has received treatment for gender reassignment over the past two years at Newton Correctional Facility. She first expressed a desire to “get started on transgender classification” in October 2017 and started using female pronouns.

“We don’t believe we have evidence sufficient to prove Josie Smith has a significant chance of reoffending,” Hicks stated last week, according to the paper.

It was an odd statement to make considering Smith is said to have molested 15 victims. The oldest was 13. The youngest was 1. The victims were “of both genders”, per the Register.

Before his transition, a preliminary report from a state expert recommended Smith be behind bars for an indefinite period of time because “the likelihood of [Smith] re-offending within five years of release exceeded 20%.” But that was based on Smith being a man at the time:

Dr. Tracy Thomas, a forensic psychologist and former clinical director of CCUSO, said the statute that outlines civil commitment requires the state to “essentially prove an offender has a chance offending greater than 51% for the rest of his life.” That becomes harder to prove when an offender significantly lowers his testosterone levels, which has a significantly higher impact on sex drive than estrogen.

This is just flat out nuts, but no worries, says Hicks. “Josie Smith will be subject to strict sex-offender reporting required of those who commit the crimes she did. She’ll be subject to supervision for the rest of her life.”

I’m sure that’ll be a comfort to his many victims. (/sarcasm font)

So what message does this send? For sex offenders in Iowa, they understand now that beginning the transition process has the potential to be like a get out of jail free card.

With the exception of his one defeat in 1991, it looks like Iowa’s Democratic Attorney General Tom Miller has been their AG since 1978. Sounds like it’s time for a serious Republican challenger in the 2022 election, assuming Miller runs again.

(Hat tip: The Blaze)