After a careful review of Mr. Sitler’s history; the recent Abel Assessment; the opinions of Steve Lindsey and Dr. Richard Craig; it has been decided that the Idaho Department of Correction, does not support Mr. Sitler’s upcoming marriage.

In coming to a decision in this situation, Mr. Sitler’s original evaluations have been reviewed as well as the recent Abel Assessment. Mr. Sitler’s religious beliefs and his statement of intention to begin having children within a year have also been taken into consideration. If Mr. Sitler was to get married and have children as he has stated are his intentions, the Idaho Department of Correction will face the future decision of having to separate Mr Sitler’s family, as we cannot allow him to be unsupervised with children.

All the facts of this case have been reviewed as well as the factors that the IDOC could be faced with in the near future and feel that this is the best course of action at this time….

—Opinion Of The Idaho Department of Correction | On The Sitler Wedding | May 27, 2011.

Idaho Department of Correction Offender Family Contact Rules List

• Never be alone with children.
• Never be responsible for supervising or disciplining children.
• Never initiate physical contact with children.
• Never discuss issues of sexuality with minors.
• The offender should not present himself as wanting or needed caretaking or special affection from children.
• The use of alcohol is prohibited.
• The offender is never to be alone with children. A chaperone approved by the Probation/Parole officer is to be present at all times.
• The offender is not to discipline children. The chaperone is responsible for determining appropriate disciplining of the children. The chaperone is responsible for administering rewards or punishments.
• Any discussions of the abuse between the offender and the children will take place in the treatment setting.
• The offender will minimize physical contact with children and will not initiate physical contact with children (ie, hugs, hand holding etc.). The offender will not sit next to children in a car, a restaurant, etc.
• The offender is not to be around children’s friends.
• The offender will have no secrets with children.
• There will be no gift giving to the children except through the chaperone

Shubin: Basically, everything remotely resembling being a father – putting his son to bed, giving his son a bath or a birthday gift, horseplay, disciplining, deciding on his son’s activities, sitting next to his son, or even initiating a hug – is all off limits. Further than that, Katie is required to hold her husband responsible to treatment guidelines and parole conditions as well as to report any concerns to his probation officer. Katie is joined to a man who is legally prohibited from fathering and whom she must constantly monitor, direct, and report on for the duration of their marriage. This is what Mr. Wilson sealed in the holy bond of matrimony when he performed Mr. Sitler and Katie Travis’s wedding. This is Mr. Right. This is the wise decision.

Mr Sitler’s Removal From His Home

Shubin: Four years after the wedding, in March 2015, Katie delivered a baby boy. Mr. Sitler was removed from their home six months later on September 1, 2015 after admitting under polygraph to what the IDOC describes as violations of a “heinous nature” in six paragraphs of a four page report and for failing one other polygraph question entirely. Katie’s chaperone status was revoked for failing to inform probation of disclosures that her husband made to her. Her status remains revoked, and Mr. Sitler is still not living in his home.

Failed Polygraph Report, 8/14/15

IDOC: Mr. Sitler took another polygraph on August 22, 2015, and failed another question…With the new disclosures and the heinous nature of these violations, Idaho Department of Correction…ordered Mr. Sitler completely off his residence property and ordered him to have no contact with his son.

…we have a record for this court to show that Mr. Sitler has engaged in physical contact with his child that has resulted in sexual stimulation on his part. And that was disclosed to his wife and not reported to the Valley Treatment Specialities…..

Shubin: Despite Mr. Wilson’s protestations that Christ Church ensures that Mr. Sitler is chaperoned when he attends church and that the church’s highest concern is for protecting children, one child is conspicuously absent from this concern – Mr. Sitler’s own son, the child in closest proximity to Mr. Sitler and thus the one to whom Mr. Sitler poses the gravest danger. Thankfully, the state at least is now showing a more appropriate level of
concern for this child than the child’s own church is.

Read more»

Rachel Shubin | “Analyzing Douglas Wilson’s Handling of the Steven Sitler and Jamin Wight Cases,” pp. 23–27.

RESOURCES

• It Can Be Difficult But We Need To Open Our Eyes And Pay Attention To The Facts
• Subscribe To The Heidelblog!
• Download the HeidelApp on Apple App Store or Google Play
• The Heidelblog Resource Page
• Heidelmedia Resources
• The Ecumenical Creeds
• The Reformed Confessions
• The Heidelberg Catechism
• Recovering the Reformed Confession (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2008)
• Why I Am A Christian
• What Must A Christian Believe?
• Heidelblog Contributors
• Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button or send a check to

Heidelberg Reformation Association
1637 E. Valley Parkway #391
Escondido CA 92027
USA
The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

Post authored by:

• Heidelblog

  

  The Heidelblog has been in publication since 2007. It is devoted to recovering the Reformed confession and to helping others discover Reformed theology, piety, and practice.

  More by Heidelblog ›