*1 The Respondent is the subject of a petition for sex offender civil management under Article 10 of the Mental Hygiene Law (the “Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act”, “Article 10″ or “SOMTA”). He appeared before this Court for an annual review hearing to determine whether he continues to be a dangerous sex offender requiring confinement pursuant to MHL §10.09. For the reasons outlined infra the Court holds that: (i) the State did not present evidence that Mr. T. suffered from conduct disorder prior to the age of 15, one of the requirements for a diagnosis of Anti-Social Personality Disorder (“ASPD”); (ii) Mr. T., therefore, cannot be diagnosed with ASPD; (iii) the state did not present evidence that Mr. T. has any other psychiatric diagnosis; (iv) without a valid psychiatric diagnosis, Mr. T. cannot be subject to Article 10 because he does not have any qualifying “condition, disease or disorder” under the statute. The Court therefore orders the petition in this case be dismissed and the Respondent released. Since the Court has determined the Respondent does not suffer from a Mental Abnormality under Article 10, it has not ruled on the question of whether he should remain confined or be released to Strict and Intensive Supervision and Treatment in the community (“SIST”). This order shall be stayed for 45 days to allow the State to seek a stay of this Court’s order pending appeal, should the State choose to do so.STATEMENT OF FACTS1The State and the Respondent each presented the testimony of one expert witness at the hearing. Their testimony is first outlined here.Testimony of State’s Expert, Dr. Sarah DeMarcoDr. DeMarco received her Psy.D. in clinical psychology in 2014 and has worked as a psychiatric examiner employed by the New York State Office of Mental Health (“OMH”) since December of 2015. She is also an adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has an independent therapy and evaluation practice and has worked in a variety of other settings as a psychologist or psychology/extern. She conducted an evaluation of Mr. T. for this case. She wrote a report memorializing her findings on May 13, 2016 and also
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