Dozens of convicted sex offenders released prematurely are back in their cells at Detroit-area prisons, a corrections official says.

The Detroit News reported Wednesday that it had learned 62 sex offenders were accidentally set free last week. It was three or four days, the newspaper said, before the error was realized and they were rounded up.

The inmates had served their minimum terms for offenses such as child molestation and rape, and were going through treatment prior to receiving recommendations from psychologists as to whether they were ready for parole or needed further treatment or detention, the News said.

Russ Marlan, a state Corrections Department spokesman, said the prisoners were released after two psychologists failed to classify the prisoners properly.

"We went out and got them all," Marlin said.