Jury decides to keep Skagit County sex offender in custody

1-22-16 Washington:

MOUNT VERNON — Jurors decided Tuesday to keep Gregory Coley in custody at the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, determining that Coley is a dangerous sexual predator and should remain confined in the interest of public safety, according to the state Attorney General’s office.

A trial began Jan. 11 in Skagit County Superior Court to determine if Coley, 36, still meets the criteria to be deemed a sexually violent predator.

State law says a person convicted of a sex offense and found by a judge or jury to be a sexually violent predator can be civilly committed into state custody after he or she has completed a criminal sentence.

A sexually violent predator must have been convicted of a sexually violent crime and suffer from a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes future criminal sexual conduct likely, according to state law.

Recently released convicted child molester moves to Centralia, will be restricted to his property

11-27-15 Washington:

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office wants residents to know a level three registered sex offender has moved to north Centralia.

Garth D. Snively, 66, now resides on the 1200 block of Logan Street.

Public notification of where registered sex offenders reside is intended to enhance public safety, according to the sheriff’s office. Level three is the designation for individuals deemed most likely to reoffend.

Snively is a clear risk to re-offend, according to the sheriff’s office.

Snively served a prison term after his 1994 convictions for two counts of first-degree child molestation and one count of indecent liberties, according to the sheriff’s office. His victim was an 11-year-old boy he met while he was a Sunday school teacher at a church in Snohomish County, according to sheriff’s detective Jamey McGinty. He is not wanted.

Child rapist defeats 11-year attempt to commit him

11 Years as a detainee then beat the commitment game; his story needed to be told.

6-22-2014 Washington:

Tacoma — For 11 years, Cory E. Roberts was housed at the state's center for sexually violent predators and for 11 years he stalled efforts to have him committed there.

Last month, he won the argument and on Monday was released into Tacoma after two experts decided he did not meet the criteria for being committed at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island.

"What stunned me about this particular defendant's release was not only his horrific history, but his unwillingness to pursue treatment while at McNeil Island," Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said.

The 37-year-old's convictions include sexually and physically assaulting a 3-year-old girl in 1990 when he was 13 and living in Benton County. Roberts had responded to a baby-sitting ad and was supposed to be caring for the toddler.

The child suffered permanent brain damage and paralysis as well as blindness in one eye and loss of sight in the other, her mother, Kelly McGinnis, told KIRO-TV.

"He's a monster," McGinnis said.

Her daughter regularly asks if Roberts is in jail, said McGinnis, who told KIRO she'll keep telling her he is. The brain injury from the attack left her daughter with the mental ability of a 10-year-old, and learning about the release would be too much for her, McGinnis said.

Roberts is registered as a level three sex offender, those considered most likely to re-offend. He told authorities he is living in the 7200 block of South Fawcett Street in Tacoma.

Sex offender to be released

This is upsetting the man waited between 4-5 years before the commitment hearing was even held; time lost from his life. What part of that time was he still serving his prison sentence we do not know.

3-18-15 Washington:

YAKIMA, Wash. — A jury has declined to indefinitely commit a convicted sex offender who had served his term.

In a two-week trial, state officials argued that David Ramirez, 45, is a sexually violent predator who will act on his urges if he is allowed to leave state custody.

But after deliberating Tuesday evening and much of the day today, a Yakima County Superior Court jury said Ramirez should not be subject to a civil commitment.

The jury’s verdict was announced shortly after 3 p.m. Two members of Ramirez’s family were in the courtroom to hear the verdict.

“I was extremely happy for my client and his family,” Ramirez attorney Bruce Shamulka said. “If we can get David on the straight and narrow, the whole family can finally come together. It’s been a long, hard road for them.”

Jury finds sex offender still poses a danger

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3-26-15 Washington:

PORT ORCHARD — After deliberating for about a day, a Kitsap Superior Court jury found Wednesday that a man convicted of sexually assaulting a Bremerton girl in 1999 should be committed indefinitely to a secure facility.

Rick Allen Monroe, 46, will be returned to the state’s Special Commitment Center for sexually violent predators on McNeil Island.

The jury found that Monroe has a mental abnormality or personality disorder, which makes it more likely than not that he will reoffend if not confined.

One of the attorneys for the state, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Howe, argued that Monroe’s history of two convictions for sex crimes dating to 1984, not completing sex offender treatment in prison and a mental disorder made him a likely risk.

In the 1999 case, for first-degree rape of a child, Monroe was accused of assaulting two girls, ages 7 and 8, but Howe said that Monroe was alleged to have had up to five other victims. In 1984 in King County, Monroe had been convicted of indecent liberties with a girl younger than 14.

Monroe, originally from Oregon, had come to live in Bremerton in January 1999. He fled authorities in Washington, escaped police in southern Oregon and was arrested in Florida before being returned to Washington to face charges. He also was alleged to have shown an 11-year-old boy pornographic material.

“He’s demonstrated a predatory pattern,” Howe said.

Monroe had been accepted into treatment programs while in custody but did not complete them, Howe said.

To commit a sex offender, prosecutors must prove to the jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a sex offender is more likely than not to reoffend if released. There are about 260 sex offenders incarcerated at the state Department of Health and Human Services facility.

Monroe’s attorney, Martin Mooney of Snohomish County, had argued that Monroe has a cognitive neurological deficit that impairs his judgment but that he was not likely to reoffend.

Mooney said he was not surprised by the verdict.

“It’s not the right one, it’s just what I expected, there’s a difference,” he said.

Monroe’s trial was the second such trial in Kitsap this year. Last month a Kitsap jury found that George Hancock Jr., 49, should be committed to the center. ..Source.. by Andrew Binion

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Sex offender to be released from prison; jury declines civil commitment

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3-18-15 Washington:

YAKIMA COUNTY, Wash. -- A sex offender will be released from prison as soon as possible.

A jury had the possibility of keeping David Ramirez behind bars indefinitely. The state was pursuing what's known as a civil commitment.

Ramirez has served his time for a sexually-violent offense, but the state felt the public would be in danger if he was freed.

The jury disagreed and the 45-year old will be processed out of jail, but will have to register as a sex offender. ..Source.. by KIMA Staff

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