OLYMPIA, Wash – The race for Washington governor will focus largely on public safety this fall, including claims about the housing of sexually violent predators on McNeil Island.
A social media ad for candidate Dave Reichert highlights a former resident of the Special Commitment Center.
The SCC is run by the Department of Social and Health Services. After offenders serve their time, the attorney general’s office can petition them to be civilly committed indefinitely.
In recent years, judges have released more of the sexually violent predators, including a man named Paul Harell.
The ad supporting Reichert says “Bob Ferguson let a sex offender free who went on to commit a violent act at knifepoint against a 74-year-old woman in her home.”
It goes on to say that Ferguson “ignored expert medical advice” and let Harell go.
The ad is misleading.
“We don’t release anybody. Just to be clear, that’s up to a judge. We don’t approve it,” said Bob Ferguson in an interview with 4 News Now.
Harell had been to prison for rape in Washington. In 2011, after he served his prison sentence, he was classified as a sexually violent predator and sent to the Special Commitment Center.
In May 2019, Harell petitioned for his release.
At the time, Ferguson said he didn’t believe the state could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Harell met the criteria to be classified as a sexually violent predator.
He based on that on the opinion of medical experts who evaluated Harell.
Court documents quote Dr. Harry Goldberg who evaluated Harell in 2009, 2016 and 2019, saying “Dr. Goldberg concluded to a reasonable degree of psychological certainty that Mr. Harell no longer meets criteria as an SVP and is appropriate for unconditional release.”
Without evidence that Harell was likely to reoffend, Ferguson said the state couldn’t meet the burden of proof to continue to classify him as a sexually violent predator and an Island County judge ordered that Harell be released.
Harell did go on to reoffend, however.
In 2021, police say he broke into a woman’s home in Maryland and attacked her at knifepoint. He is now serving a life sentence for that crime.
Reichert told 4 News Now it’s the lack of oversight of sexually violent predators that has him concerned – and it’s something he says he would change as governor.
“That is inexcusable. If there was oversight and accountability, the Attorney General’s office and DSHS would have seen that their criteria to release people is flawed and needed reform which would have led to less victims,” Reichert told 4 News Now in a statement Tuesday. “As governor, I will work to ensure we have systems in place that will protect our communities.”
The release of people from the Special Commitment Center will continue to be an issue for Washington lawmakers.
When 4 News Now visited the facility in 2006, there were 239 people there and no one had ever been released.
Over the years, the state has released offenders into communities – including Spokane – with and without specific release conditions.
As of Tuesday, DSHS said 138 people were living at the facility. Some sexually violent predators have been released to facilities in King and Pierce Counties while they petition for release elsewhere in the state.
DSHS doesn’t track how many reoffend, but a recent Seattle Times study estimated one in four commit some level of crime.
Data uncovered by 4 News Now today shows judges have released 67 people from the SCC in the last two years.
As recently as three weeks ago, a former resident of the facility was arrested on federal child pornography charges.
The facility continues to be more expensive to operate, even as the number of residents goes down.
DSHS says operating the Special Commitment Center cost the state $71 million in 2023.
COPYRIGHT 2024 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
