Committed Sex Offender Kills Himself At Moose Lake

Deputy Commissioner Anne Barry says he died Saturday at the program's Moose Lake facility. She says it's the only known suicide in the history of the sex offender treatment program.

Citing privacy laws, the department declined to identify him or say how he killed himself. Sex offenders who are civilly committed to the program when they complete their prison sentences are considered patients, not inmates.

So far this year, Barry says, there have been six cases where patients' self-inflicted injuries required medical attention, compared with nine last year. Two cases were classified as attempted suicides.

A lawsuit pending in federal court alleges the sex offender program is unconstitutional.