EVERETT — A former Lake Stevens woman who fled the area because she was afraid authorities would seize her cats was back in front of a Snohomish County judge Wednesday.
Once again, Superior Court Judge George Bowden ordered the woman to seek mental health treatment, even enlisting the help of District Court Judge Tam Bui, who presides over the county’s misdemeanor mental health court.
Bowden encouraged Kathryn St. Clare to “audit” the mental health court, acknowledging that the program isn’t officially available to her because she was convicted of a felony.
Bowden said he’d give St. Clare credit toward her community service hours if she participated in Bui’s court, getting mental health treatment and assistance with housing and employment. Bui and the court coordinator attended Wednesday’s lengthy hearing.
The judge told St. Clare she needs to get at the heart of why she hoards cats. Her life came off the rails a few years ago when she lost her job and other traumatic events happened, and that appears to be when St. Clare began collecting cats, Bowden said.
He encouraged St. Clare to seek help for her behavioral health, as she would if she had another kind of ailment, such as an injured elbow.
Bowden had declined to send St. Clare to jail last year after a jury convicted her of animal cruelty. She had been hoarding more than 100 cats in a travel trailer.
At the time Bowden raised questions about why St. Clare ended up at trial instead of being admitted to a county-funded program meant to steer mentally ill people out of the criminal justice system. He said it appeared that St. Clare, a homeless woman living in a trailer, was denied entry into the program because she couldn’t afford to pay back the $18,000 the auditor’s office initially claimed the investigation cost.
Prosecutors said there were other issues that prevented St. Clare from getting into their Therapeutic Alternatives to Prosecution program, claiming that St. Clare wouldn’t admit that she’d done anything wrong.
Her attorney. Robert O’Neal, told the court his client saw the cats as her family. Because of her disorder, St. Clare lacked insight into the reality of her situation, according to a psychologist.
She went so far as to live in unsafe conditions so as not to be separated from her animals.
Bowden sentenced St. Clare to community service. He also ordered her to enroll in mental health treatment and to stay away from cats.
The psychologist who evaluated St. Clare noted that treatment for animal hoarding is in the early stages of research. “What is known is that this behavior, absent any mental health intervention, has nearly a 100 percent recidivism rate,” she wrote.
St. Clare was arrested in April in Oregon. She was in possession of dozens of cats and appeared to be living out of her vehicle. She told authorities she was concerned people in Snohomish County would take her animals.
St. Clare recently pleaded guilty to multiple counts of animal cruelty in the Oregon case. Most of the cats survived and were adopted. She was put on probation for three years and warned that if she violated the conditions of her sentence she could face nearly two years in prison.
Earlier this month, she was moved to the Snohomish County Jail for outstanding warrants connected to her case here. Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Michael Boska last year had petitioned the court to impose sanctions against St. Clare.
He alleged that she was keeping multiple cats in her pickup truck, despite the judge’s order. Witnesses had reported seeing the animals in kennels, estimating that St. Clare had up to 30 cats.
St. Clare failed to show up for the hearing in April 2016 and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
At that same hearing, Bowden ordered St. Clare to pay back $14,457.22 in restitution, mainly to reimburse the county for what it was charged to house the cats, euthanize them and dispose of their remains.
Boska on Wednesday asked that St. Clare serve an additional 20 days for the violations. The state Department of Corrections had already ordered her held for 20 days for not reporting to her community corrections officer.
“Why?” Bowden asked.
Boska said that while St. Clare may not recognize that her actions were harmful to the cats, she should understand that she directly violated the court’s orders.
“We all agree the risk of recidivism is very high if there is no mental health treatment,” Boska said. There’s no way to force someone into treatment, other than to hold them accountable, he added.
Bowden said he could see no reason to spend taxpayer money on jailing St. Clare longer than the 20 days she is serving for the state Department of Corrections. It is more important to get her engaged in services that address her behavior, he said.
He told the lawyers he wants St. Clare to meet with Jail Transition Services before she leaves the county lock-up. He also ordered St. Clare to do a minimum of 40 hours of mental health treatment. She is expected back in front of the judge later this summer.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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