Confined sex predator pleads case for release

When 19-year-old Bradley Boyd Ward first entered the state’s Special Commitment Center in 1991, he said that he just wanted to get well.

Now, after 16 years undergoing treatment at the secure facility for sexually violent predators, Ward says he’s well enough for unconditional release.

He and his mother plan to move to New Mexico.

What stands between him and freedom is a Snohomish County Superior Court jury.

The panel spent the last seven days listening to experts and other witnesses give varying opinions of whether Ward, now 35, is a sexually violent predator who is more likely than not to offend again.

If the jury decides to free him, Ward would be the first person committed to the state program to gain unrestricted release. Jurors will resume deliberations this morning.

The program, run by the state Department of Social and Health Services, has 267 people in the system, most undergoing treatment in a secure facility at McNeil Island, spokesman Steve Williams said. Only 12 are receiving treatment in a less-restrictive settings, but they’re still living under rigid structure.

Ward still needs a structured lifestyle, and the state plans this summer to put him into a less-restrictive setting, assistant attorney general Malcolm Ross told a jury Tuesday. The loosening of restrictions “would be very, very gradual,” Ross said.

Ward was just 19 when he and his mother were seeking help for him. He had a juvenile sex offense record, and then suffered a serious head injury in a car accident.

A judge allowed Ward to volunteer to go to the Special Commitment Center.

Public defender Christine Sanders on Tuesday asked the jury free Ward.

She said the attorney general has not proved that Ward is now dangerous. When he went into the Special Commitment Center, “That was Bradley crying out for help,” Sanders said. “He was saying please teach me how to be appropriate.”

Sanders said in court papers that Ward and his mother expected the program to last about six years at the most.

It was the brain injury that made Ward lose control of himself, Sanders argued. But things are better now, she said.

“Brad did what brain-injured people do,” Sanders said. “They improve.” The evidence shows that Ward has not acted out in a sexual way for four years, she said.

“The real issue is the change Bradley has made,” Sanders said.

Ross argued that taking Ward out of a structured state program would not be good for him or the community. As for the plan to move to New Mexico and let his mother take care of him, “Do you think that is a realistic plan?” Ross asked jurors.

A state-hired doctor testified that Ward still has a mental abnormality, and is more likely than not to commit another violent sexual act.

“Mr. Ward has made progress and his behavior has been controlled,” Ross said. “But Mr. Ward has not controlled the behavior. The state of Washington has.”

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.