The state Attorney General’s Office is seeking to civilly commit a convicted sex offender from Clark County to prevent his release into the community.
Timothy McMahon, 55, formerly of Ridgefield was convicted in 1986 of indecent liberties against a child younger than 14.
In 1997, he was convicted of two counts of second-degree child molestation. Then in 2004, McMahon was convicted of three counts of first-degree child molestation, according to a news release from the Attorney General’s Office.
On Wednesday, the Attorney General’s Office petitioned to have McMahon committed as a sexually violent predator, before his scheduled release on his 2004 convictions. A judge found probable cause to detain him pending a trial on the state’s petition, the news release states.
Under the state’s Sexually Violent Predator law, the Attorney General’s Office can petition for the involuntary commitment of violent sex offenders who, because of mental illness or a personality disorder, are found to likely reoffend if they are released.
The petition is based on allegations that have not yet been proven in court.
The lead attorney in McMahon’s case, Assistant Attorney General Rose McGillis, has the burden of proving the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt at trial, according to the news release.
In 1990, Washington became the first state to pass a law permitting the involuntary civil commitment of sex offenders after they serve their criminal sentences. Shortly after, the Attorney General’s Office created its Sexually Violent Predator Unit.
The Sexually Violent Predator Unit prosecutes cases for all Washington counties, except King County, and as of Oct. 5, 2016, 282 sex offenders were in custody under the state’s special commitment law, according to the news release.
