Other LanguagesTACOMA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that his office obtained the criminal conviction of James Moseley, a Whitman County sex offender, on two felony counts. Moseley pleaded guilty Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court to second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and felony harassment (threat to kill). He was sentenced to more than five years in prison for the offenses.
Moseley had been in detention at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, awaiting a trial to determine whether he is a sexually violent predator, when he committed the two crimes in November 2015. It is the second time that Moseley has committed a crime while awaiting a civil commitment trial.
“Criminal offenses that target those who put themselves in harm’s way to protect us all are particularly egregious,” Ferguson said. “The conviction obtained by prosecutors from my office keeps a dangerous, violent offender off the streets.”
Moseley was previously convicted in Whitman County of first-degree child molestation in 1999 and three counts of first-degree rape of a child in 2000. He was due to be released from prison for those offenses in May 2006, but the Attorney General’s Office filed a petition in Whitman County Superior Court requesting that he be civilly committed as a sexually violent predator.
In December 2007, while detained on McNeil Island awaiting the civil commitment trial, Moseley lit a blanket on fire. He was charged in Pierce County with first-degree arson and convicted in September 2008. At the state’s request, the Whitman County court dismissed the pending sexually violent predator petition without prejudice.
In March 2015, Moseley was about to be released from his arson sentence, but the Attorney General’s Office again filed a petition asking for his civil commitment as a sexually violent predator. While trial was pending on the second petition, Moseley assaulted staff with a homemade “shank” at the state facility on McNeil Island. Two days later, Moseley threatened to stab a pregnant staff member, cut her open, and eat her fetus. The Attorney General’s Office filed assault and harassment charges against Moseley in March 2016, and his guilty plea today resolves that case.
Following his conviction today, Moseley was sentenced by the court to serve 63 months in prison. The Attorney General will now ask the Whitman County court to dismiss the state’s civil commitment petition, which can be re-filed when Moseley has finished his prison sentence.
Assistant Attorney General Farshad Talebi prosecuted the case.
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Contact:
Peter Lavallee, Communications Director, (360) 586-0725; PeterL@atg.wa.gov