Other LanguagesVANCOUVER — A Clark County jury late yesterday denied release to a sexually violent predator after a prosecutor from the Attorney General’s Sexually Violent Predator Unit (SVP) proved that he remains mentally ill and sexually dangerous.
Raymond Marshall, 45, was convicted of first-degree child molestation in Clark County in 1990. In February 2003, Marshall was found to be a sexually violent predator and was committed to the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, where he has remained in total confinement since that time.
Washington’s SVP law allows the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to petition for and defend the civil commitment of violent sex offenders who, because of a mental abnormality and/or personality disorder, are proven likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence if released.
Last December, Marshall was awarded an unconditional release trial, based on his retained expert’s opinion that his condition had changed and that he was no longer a sexually violent predator. At trial, the AGO carried the burden of proving Marshall continues to suffer from a mental condition that makes him likely to commit predatory sexual crimes. The trial began Dec. 5 and concluded yesterday with the jury’s verdict that the AGO had met its burden.
Assistant Attorney General Thomas Howe prosecuted the case for the state.
In 1990, Washington became the first state in the nation to pass a law permitting the involuntary civil commitment of sex offenders after they serve their criminal sentences. The AGO’s SVP Unit was established shortly thereafter.
The AGO SVP unit is responsible for prosecuting SVP cases for 38 of Washington’s 39 counties (King County being the exception). In Fiscal Year 2016, the unit tried nine cases and won seven civil commitments. Two trials ended in acquittals, meaning the offenders were found to not meet the criteria to be committed as a sexually violent predator.
As of Dec. 15, 2016, 281 sexually violent predators are in the state’s Special Commitment Program.
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Contact:
Peter Lavallee, Communications Director, (360) 586-0725; PeterL@atg.wa.gov