WILLMAR -- A Level 3 sex offender who plans to move into a Willmar apartment will be under the most stringent probation the state has when he is released from prison Monday.
The Willmar Police Department along with officials from the Minnesota Department of Corrections and the Jacob Wetterling Foundation held a public meeting Thursday night about Michael Duane Hurd's plans to move to the Willmar community.
Level 3 sex offenders are deemed by the state as most likely to reoffend.
Hurd, 38, is to be released from the Moose Lake Correctional Facility and will move into an apartment on the 800 block of Litchfield Avenue. Scott Behrends, a community notifications agent with the department of corrections, said Hurd will live in the apartment as part of a faithbased program. A program worker will be at the building 24 hours a day.
Hurd was convicted in Stearns County in 1999 of molesting two juvenile boys. The boys were acquaintances. He performed oral sex on them and made them perform oral sex on him, took nude photos of them and provided them with alcohol, according to Willmar Police Officer Julie Asmus.
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In 2001, he was imprisoned for not completing sex offender treatment. He was released to live in the New London/Spicer area in 2002, but in 2003 he moved into an apartment complex without the approval of his probation agent and was sent back to prison, according to Rick Lind, a DOC corrections agent who monitor Hurd.
Lind said Hurd has 31 conditions he must comply with, or he'll be sent to prison. Lind said Hurd will be on house arrest for the first eight months. He'll also have to get permission to go anywhere and won't be able to leave his home in the evening or on weekends. Hurd will also be monitored by a GPS system, which will track his location and notify his probation agent immediately if he is someplace he isn't supposed to be, Lind said.
Nancy Sabin of the Jacob Wetterling Foundation said it is important for people to set up safety plans with their families. She said parents should teach children to say "no" to adults, to be wary of not only strangers, but acquaintances, and to be open and communicative.
Asmus said if anyone sees any strange or suspicious behavior by Hurd to call the Willmar Police Department at 235-2244 or, in an emergency, 911.
For further information from the Jacob Wetterling Foundation visit www.jwf.org or call (800) 325-HOPE.
