It came down to whether the judge could trust Steven M. Bailey to live in the community and successfully go through treatment for a sexual deviancy.
“My conclusion is we cannot,” Snohomish County Superior Court Judge James Allendoerfer said Monday.
With that, Allendoerfer sentenced Bailey, 39, of Everett to five years in prison for convictions of child molestation and child rape.
The decision comes following the recommendation of an evaluator who said that Bailey was a good candidate for a special sentencing alternative that would have let the defendant avoid prison and go directly into community-based treatment.
It was a case where Bailey used a teenage daughter to lure her 14- and 15-year-old friends to his house where he gave them alcohol and then had sexual contact with them.
Besides prison, Bailey will be subject to community supervision for three or four years, and the judge told him he had to receive treatment at that time.
Bailey pleaded guilty Nov. 4 to two counts of third-degree child molestation and three counts of third-degree child rape, all felonies. He also pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor, attempted child molestation.
Bailey’s ex-wife, and his victims, all asked the judge to sentence Bailey to prison. His two daughters said they wanted a court order preventing their father from contacting them.
Allendoerfer imposed a five-year no-contact order for the victims and the daughters, now 15 and 13.
“I find that you are addicted to pornography and preoccupied with sex,” Allendoerfer told Bailey.
Defense attorney John Crowley told the judge that society would be better off if Bailey is allowed to start treatment. Under the special sentencing alternative, the prison term would have been hanging over Bailey’s head if he failed to successfully complete treatment.
Janice Albert, deputy prosecutor, agreed to recommend the special sentencing alternative if a qualified expert recommended one for Bailey.
She told Allendoerfer that she still recommends the treatment plan, but there are some things the judge should note.
Among them, she pointed out that following the rules is important in such a sentencing alternative, and Bailey twice violated rules during his prosecution by contacting witnesses.
She also was concerned by his inability to admit what he did.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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