Female sex predator list grows

Associated Press

PURDY — Laura McCollum is classified as a sex predator too dangerous to live outside prison walls.

For the past four years, McCollum, who repeatedly molested a toddler she babysat in the 1980s, has lived under the constant scrutiny of state Department of Social and Health Services counselors at a manufactured home on the grounds of the state women’s prison near Purdy.

Now state attorneys are seeking to civilly commit two more women, which would give Washington more female sex predators under civil commitment than any other state.

Crystal Hoffman, 18, of Snohomish County, moved two weeks ago to the Special Commitment Center’s Purdy program while she awaits a December trial.

Hoffman pleaded guilty at 13 to first-degree child molestation for having oral sex with a 4-year-old boy, according to court records. She was scheduled to get out of juvenile detention in May.

Karla Baker, 24, remains in the Clark County jail until her trial, which hasn’t been set.

Baker was convicted for abusing boys she knew from her neighborhood. In 1995, she pleaded guilty to first- and second-degree child molestation and went to prison. She was scheduled for release in June.

The state pays $348,000 a year for McCollum’s treatment — almost three times the cost of a rapist in the all-male Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island.

Washington is among 14 states that hold certain predatory rapists and pedophiles in mandatory treatment after they complete sentences for the crimes they committed. To get out, offenders must undergo enough therapy to persuade a judge to let them live in the community.

Much of the expense for McCollum covers the two residential rehabilitation counselors who monitor her during the day and one who is assigned the overnight shift.

McCollum’s 1,100-square-foot, two-bedroom house would only fit one other woman, and DSHS is reluctant to build another home. Other options include borrowing another building on the prison grounds.

"That’s one of the bridges we haven’t crossed," said Anthony Avenson, assistant residential care manager for the sex predator program.

Only California, Minnesota and Missouri have similar programs for female sex predators. Each has only one offender.

State attorneys say they took into consideration the crimes committed by Baker and Hoffman and used several psychological screening tests to evaluate whether the two are sex predators. Both women scored high on at least one test, court papers say.

Those tests were developed by studying traits of men incarcerated for sex assaults and other violent crimes. Some experts don’t agree with the results.

"We don’t have any tests for females," said Florence Wolfe, co-director of Northwest Treatment Associates in Seattle and a national expert on female sex offenders. "It is not appropriate to adapt these tests over to females."

Wolfe is among those who don’t believe that men or women can be treated while they are locked up. But others argue such offenders are dangerous and need tight security.

McCollum agreed in 1997 to enter the civil commitment program without going to trial.

She is isolated, except for meals in the prison’s cafeteria and exercising in the gymnasium.

McCollum’s attorney, Mary Opgenorth, said her client is "horribly lonely," but admitted that having a roommate may not be the best solution.

"It’s one of those situations where we’re hoping for the best and fearful of the worst," Opgenorth said. "It’s such a confined space that if they have conflicting personalities, how are they going to be able to stay away from each other?

"I’m really fearful whether this is going to be a therapeutic environment for either of them."