OLYMPIA (AP) — Civil commitment of offenders who have been designated as sexually violent predators can be indefinitely extended for those whose crimes occurred when they were juveniles, the Washington Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday.
While the court had previously ruled that prior juvenile sexual offenses could be considered when offenders later committed a sexual crime as an adult, its latest ruling was the first in which they addressed whether crimes committed as a juvenile — with no additional sexual offenses as an adult — is sufficient as a foundation for the three-prong test for civil commitment.
In addition to being convicted or charged with a sexually violent crime, in order to be civilly committed as a sexually violent predator, the offender must also be deemed to be suffering from a mental abnormality, and it must be determined that the abnormality makes it likely that person will continue sexually predatory acts if released.
With its ruling, the court affirmed a Court of Appeals ruling that upheld a lower court’s ruling that denied the release of a man from the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island even though he’s completed his prison sentence for a rape and attempted rape he was convicted of as a teen.