Sowell was considered low-risk

CLEVELAND, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Convicted sex offender Anthony Sowell, accused in Cleveland of being a serial killer, fell into a low-risk category for offending again, a report indicates.

Sowell had served 15 years in prison for attempted rape. The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer said Friday the report stated only six of 100 offenders with criminal histories similar to Sowell's would commit another sex crime within five years of being released.

The report, prepared for Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in 2005, said Sowell, 50, revealed he went to strip clubs, looked at pornographic magazines and watched pornographic videos. He estimated he had sex with more than 50 women.

Born into a working-class family, Sowell had friends but was teased and bullied as a child, the report said. He didn't graduate from high school and went into the Marines, where he achieved the rank of sergeant, though he once went absent without leave.

The court report says he fathered a child, married and divorced.

Back in civilian life in 1985, he was drinking at least six drinks most days, he said, at times blacking out.

"He acknowledged having family problems and increased aggressiveness when drinking," the report said.

Sowell was convicted of domestic violence in 1988 and before long pleaded guilty to attempting to rape a pregnant woman he had bound and gagged.

While behind bars, Sowell worked at prison jobs, got his GED and went through alcohol treatment, anger management, drug awareness and personality-improvement programs.

He applied to a treatment program for sex offenders in 1993, but wasn't accepted because he denied he had committed a sex crime.

Sowell was released from prison in June 2005.

He now is back in jail, suspected of killing 11 women whose bodies were found at his home.