Other LanguagesSEATTLE — A Snohomish County jury has decided that repeat sex offender Calvin Malone is a dangerous predator and must be confined in the State’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island. In the interest of public safety, prosecutors from Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) Unit have been fighting since 2012 to prevent Malone’s release into the community.
Malone, 62, was convicted of Rape of a Child in the First Degree and two counts of Child Molestation in the First Degree in 1993. He was scheduled for community release on Sept. 24, 2012, before the Attorney General’s Office filed for his civil commitment. Since then, he has been detained at the Special Commitment Center awaiting trial.
The trial began on July 14th and ended yesterday, with the jury’s decision that Malone is a Sexually Violent Predator. It was the second trial in the Attorney General’s ongoing fight to keep him out of the community. His initial trial in February ended with a hung jury.
“The Attorney General’s Office works hard to protect our communities from sexually violent predators,” said Attorney General Bob Ferguson. “I’m especially proud of the entire prosecution team for their dedication to this case over the past two years.”
Under Washington’s civil commitment law, prosecutors had to demonstrate Malone suffers from specific mental abnormalities and/or personality disorders that cause him to have serious difficulty in controlling his dangerous behavior and make him likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence unless confined to a secure facility.
In 1990, Washington became the first state in the nation to pass a law permitting the involuntary civil commitment of sex offenders after they have served their criminal sentence. The Attorney General’s SVP Unit was established shortly thereafter.
The AGO SVP unit is responsible for prosecuting sex predator cases for 38 of Washington’s 39 counties (King County being the exception). In Fiscal Year 2014, the unit tried 14 cases, won 9 civil commitments and secured one recommitment. Three trials ended in hung juries and one trial involved an offender who was found by the jury to not meet the criteria to be committed as a sexually violent predator.
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The Office of the Attorney General is the chief legal office for the state of Washington with attorneys and staff in 27 divisions across the state providing legal services to roughly 200 state agencies, boards and commissions. Attorney General Bob Ferguson is working hard to protect consumers and seniors against fraud, keep our communities safe, protect our environment and stand up for our veterans. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.
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Alison Dempsey-Hall, Acting Communications Director