Lawmakers seek to close loophole in sexual predator law

COLUMBUS (AP) — State lawmakers are moving to close a legal loophole that would allow a man who killed a 14-year-old girl to walk out of prison next month without having to register as a sexual predator.

Robert Lee Wells, 44, who fatally stabbed Barbara Sue Caulley in 1988, was granted parole in June but remains in the Chillicothe Correctional Institution while the victim’s family fights his release.

State law requires people found guilty of involuntary manslaughter to register as sex offenders but not those who are convicted of voluntary manslaughter.

A judge convicted Wells of voluntary manslaughter based on a bite mark on the girl’s left breast that matched Wells’ teeth.

“Certainly, the facts of this case would indicate that it was motivated by sexual conduct,” said Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, who wasn’t county prosecutor when the case went to trial but whose research uncovered the loophole.

Republican state Sen. Steve Stivers of Columbus is trying to change the law in a pending victims’ rights bill.

O’Brien said he’ll join Caulley’s family at a parole hearing Sept. 12 to fight Wells’ release. They want to keep Wells in prison long enough to get the law fixed and get Wells designated a predator.