SPOKANE, Wash. — On Thursday, the so-called “South Hill Rapist” will likely be released.
The state of Washington says it doesn’t have proof that Kevin Coe is a sexual predator any longer, and is not fighting his request to be released during a hearing set for Thursday morning.
Kevin Coe has served four decades in prison and civil commitment, but it looks like that time will end this week. Though it’s not the first time Coe was set to walk free.
Coe was believed responsible for upwards of 40 sexual assaults between the late 70s and his arrest in 1981, but, ultimately, he only served time for one rape.
During his first trial, Coe was convicted on four counts of rape. Just three years later, the state supreme court overturned those convictions because some victims were hypnotized during the police investigation.
In the second trial in 1985, Coe was found guilty on three rape charges. Again, many of those were overturned on the hypnosis issue. Coe’s single rape conviction led to a 25-year prison sentence and in 2006, he was set to be released.
Instead, the state argued he was still a sexually violent predator. He was involuntarily committed to McNeil Island in 2008 after a jury agreed he was still a danger to the public.
But now, two separate psychology experts concluded that Coe, now 78 years old, is in failing health.
A department of social and health services psychologist and another hired by the attorney general’s office say that due to Coe’s heart disease, limited mobility and ongoing mental health issues, he’s unlikely to reoffend.
While the attorney general’s office is not fighting his release, a spokesperson says Coe will be a registered sex offender for life and will likely go to an adult group home.
트위터 공유: 40년 수감 끝 성범죄자 석방 위기