SPOKANE, Wash – Several of the women assaulted by the man known as the South Hill Rapist will get to share their testimony before his release from a state facility.
Kevin Coe has spent the last 17 years at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island. He was sent there after serving 25 years in prison, as the state had him declared a sexually violent predator.
Coe was suspected of dozens of rapes in Spokane in the late 70s and early 80s. Through appeals and trials, he was ultimately convicted of one.
State experts now believe Coe is too old and feeble to be a danger and say he doesn’t meet the criteria as a sexually violent predator. Because of that, they’ve filed a motion to dismiss the petition to hold him at the SCC.
Coe’s attorneys say he plans to move into an adult care facility in Pierce County.
Spokane County Judge Julie McKay will preside over the hearing Thursday morning to dismiss that motion.
At previous hearings, she reminded the attorneys that if the state believes Coe doesn’t meet the criteria as a sexually violent predator, she has no discretion and will have to allow for his release.
Because of that, Judge McKay wasn’t sure if it was appropriate for victims to testify, as they would at something like a sentencing hearing.
She has since decided that their testimony will be allowed.
One victim told 4 News Now she plans to speak and thought up to five other victims wanted to share their statements as well.
Coe was a realtor in Spokane at the time of the rapes, which stretched from one end of the south hill to the other.
He was ultimately connected to the crimes by a witness who matched a vehicle at the scene of the crimes to one registered to Coe’s father.
Coe’s father was, at the time, the editor of the Spokane Chronicle newspaper.
During his legal battles, Coe’s mother tried to hire a hitman to kill the judge at prosecutor.
Ruth Coe was ultimately convicted and allowed to serve much of her one-year sentence on work release.
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