MINNEAPOLIS - Two prosecutors say they're disappointed Britain's High Court has refused to extradite a convicted sex offender back to Minnesota to face charges dating from the 1990s.

Shawn Sullivan is charged in Hennepin and Dakota counties with molesting three girls in 1993 and 1994. He fled to Europe and is now living in Britain, where the court ruled Thursday that Minnesota's program for sex offenders is too harsh.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom issued a joint statement Thursday. They say it would run counter to public safety to promise not to commit Sullivan to the state's treatment program for dangerous sex offenders.

They say the warrants for Sullivan's arrest will remain outstanding, and that they'll prosecute him if he returns to the U.S.

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