A Mountlake Terrace man who was convicted of molesting eight children in the 1980s is a sexually violent predator, a judge has ruled.
John Callahan, now 35, was sentenced in 1989 to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting children in his neighborhood. When he was due to be released from prison in 1998, prosecutors filed a petition seeking to have Callahan declared a sexually violent predator in need of treatment.
A Snohomish County Superior Court trial was delayed nearly a decade due to procedural and legal reasons, deputy prosecutor Paul Stern said.
Callahan has been held at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, south of Tacoma. He went to trial in July in front of Judge Anita Farris. Her decision was delayed until Friday pending the review of various documents, Stern said.
Farris found that Callahan suffers from pedophilia and antisocial personality disorder. She declared him a sexually violent predator and committed him for treatment.
That means Callahan will remain housed at the Special Commitment Center, until a judge finds that he is safe to be released into the community, Stern said.
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