Michael D. Collins, a Clark County man convicted earlier this year in a high-profile attack on a skier in Skamania County, pleaded guilty Monday to failure to register as a sex offender and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Collins, 35, entered his plea to the felony before Clark County Superior Court Judge Roger Bennett.
He will begin serving his sentence after completing the 24-year sentence imposed in connection to the Feb. 9, 2009, near-fatal beating of a cross-country skier at Dougan Falls on the upper Washougal River. He was convicted Feb. 23 by a Skamania County Superior Court jury of first-degree attempted murder and robbery in connection with the attack.
Collins was under community supervision for two sex offenses, second-degree assault with sexual motivation in 2000 and child molestation in 1992. The felony designation relates to how, starting in 2006, he eluded police for three years by traveling to other states, such as California and New Mexico, for extended periods of time, said Deputy Prosecutor Alan Harvey.
While Collins could have faced up to five years in prison for the charge, he agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a lesser punishment. Harvey said the plea deal was an appropriate resolution, given that the trial could have been extensive.
“There were multiple out-of-state witnesses,” he said. “We wanted to hold him accountable for what he did” and ensure a conviction.
Collins was reportedly trying to hide from police on this charge when he took his teenage son, Teven Collins, to Dougan Falls in February 2009. The two lived off Top Ramen noodles and oranges before robbing and trying to kill Kevin Tracey for his wallet and car keys. Tracey survived after three hikers found him and called for help.
The father and son were later arrested in Ensenada, Mexico, after being featured on the TV show “America’s Most Wanted.”
Teven Collins pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder and was sentenced to eight years in prison in exchange for his testimony against his father at trial.
Coincidentally, Michael Collins was acquitted earlier this month by a Clark County Superior Court jury of taking Teven Collins in violation of a custody order just before the attack. Jurors sided with Collins’ attorney, Suzan Clark, who argued he shouldn’t be found guilty because his son was old enough at 16 to have consent.
