Brian Walters

The Missouri Legislature’s Joint Committee on Corrections had a chance to get tough on crime last week. Instead, they behaved like purring pussycats, forgiving the appalling foul-up that allowed a sexual sadist to roam free without treatment or tight supervision.

Committee members all but licked the hand of Corrections Director Larry Crawford, a former state representative, who was summoned last Wednesday to answer for his department’s errors in letting Brian Walters out of prison and failing to treat him for his aberrant sexual urges. Walters now is charged with the rape and murder of Nancy Miller, 59, of Chesterfield, a former editor at the Post-Dispatch.

“I hate that this happened, but I think you guys did the best that you could,” Rep. Van Kelly, R-Norwood, cooed to Mr. Crawford. “I hope that this doesn’t happen again, but . . . the government can’t be all things to all people.”

The best they could?

Walters was paroled on a burglary charge in 2003 when he admitted to a counselor that he had raped and beaten a North Carolina teen; he had avoided the rape charge. The attack “felt wonderful. I loved it,” he said. He confessed to repeated thoughts of “hurting and/or killing sexual partners.”

The next day, he repeated all that to his parole officer. According to the officer’s report, Walters “emphasized” that “he has a problem and needs help.” The officer wrote to the state parole board, which is part of the Corrections Department, recommending that Walters be classified as a sex offender, placed in a sex offender treatment program and monitored more closely.

None of that happened. Corrections officials won’t say why.

Walters went back to prison later that year on another burglary charge and a parole violation. The prison system has a treatment program for sex offenders that is known to reduce recidivism. But Walters wasn’t sent there.

Instead, he was paroled again in January and was living with his parents across the street from Ms. Miller, whose body was found Feb. 1. Walters was arrested the next day and confessed to the killing, police said.

The legislative committee had a chance to pry loose some answers on Wednesday. But members didn’t even try, preferring to roll over for a former colleague who was appointed to his job despite having had little relevant experience. As a state legislator, he sponsored the state’s concealed weapons bill. Missourians now can carry handguns to keep themselves safe from the kind of people Mr. Crawford’s department lets out of prison.

Gov. Matt Blunt rewarded Mr. Crawford with the corrections job after he was term-limited out of his legislative seat. He’d previously served as clerk and recorder of deeds in Moniteau County, which has 15,000 people, most of whom are upright and law-abiding. Now he’s in charge of 30,000 inmates, most of whom aren’t.

Mr. Crawford complained that money is tight. He said that his employees are overworked and his computers are old. He showed pictures of parole files piled high on desks and boxes overflowing into an employee break room.

Committee members responded sympathetically. “I don’t even know why we had this today, except to shed light on the need for money” for corrections, said Sen. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington.

Here’s why, senator: A good woman is dead. And it’s not a matter of money. It’s a matter of competence. Missouri spends roughly $600 million a year on corrections. In a well-managed organization, that’s plenty of money to ensure that the reports parole officers write are read by somebody.

The people of Missouri deserve to know if this was a one-time mistake or an indication of a deeper problem. The people of Missouri deserve legislators who are serious about protecting them and holding public officials accountable when they fail.

The committee plans another hearing on the matter. It should question the parole officer who first interviewed Walters and then work up the chain of command. Good cops do it every day; maybe the committee should hire one.