State Sen. Len Suzio (R-Meriden) will be holding a press conference on the state's somewhat controversial early release credit program today at 4 p.m. outside the Middletown Police Department. 

Suzio said in a release that the press conference is related to the arrest of a Middletown man, a convicted sex offender, on charges he was caught on tape masturbating in front of a 14-year-old girl on a city bus. 

“How much more evidence do we need?” Suzio asked in the release. “Dangerous criminals who have not been rehabilitated in any way are being released from prison early and recommitting serious crimes. This program is a failure; it puts our public safety at risk; and it must be suspended immediately. We cannot wait until the next legislative session. We shouldn’t wait another day. We must stop this program before another Connecticut resident becomes the victim of a violent offender let out of jail early.”

According to police and newspaper reports, and the release issued by Suzio, "Joseph Mayberry, a registered sex offender with 28 prior criminal convictions, was riding the Middletown Area Transit Bus when he started masturbating in front of a 14 year old girl. The incident was recorded by the bus’s security camera and police have arrested Mayberry."

Suzio said State Victim Advocate Michelle Cruz confirmed that Mayberry was awarded time off his latest prison sentence due to the new inmate early release program, formally called the Risk Reduction Earned Credit Program (RREC).

Senate Republicans voted against the risk reduction program when it became law in 2011. It was later objected to in a 2012 amendment presented by state senator and congressional candidate Andrew Roraback.