Herman Ross Paschke has been under treatment in secure facilities as a sexual predator for six years, and on Wednesday he was released to a less-restrictive setting near Silver Lake in south Everett.
That arrangement didn’t last long.
On Friday he was returned to the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, a secure facility that houses and treats 225 sexual predators.
His return had nothing to do with his conduct or a violation of strict court orders required by Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Michael Downes, said Henry Richards, superintendent of the Special Commitment Center.
Under the guidelines for his release, he’s required to constantly have an escort and is subject to monitoring by global positioning system at all times.
But his escort said something that concerned a state community corrections officer assigned to monitor Paschke, Richards said.
“It’s not his fault. He hasn’t done anything wrong. It’s just that the conditions for an escort are not met,” Richards said.
He said Paschke had been responding well to treatment, both at the center and the Secure Community Transition Facility, also on McNeil Island.
But the community corrections officer became concerned about his escort possibly not following conditions of release, and Downs will have to sort things out, Richards said.
“Virtually for them to change their chewing gum it has to go back to court,” Richards said.
Paschke was released to a home in the 12100 block of Andrew Sater Road. He was convicted of numerous sexual offenses in Spokane County, beginning in 1962, and his victims range from a 77-year-old woman to a 12-year-old girl.
Snohomish County sheriff’s Deputy Rich Niebusch said Paschke was committed as a sexually violent predator in October 1999 by Spokane County Superior Court.
His first conviction was when he was 15 after assaulting a 77-year-old woman in 1962. Other convictions followed in 1972 and 1979. He also has admitted a dozen other sexual assaults for which he has not been charged, Niebusch said.
The sheriff’s office sent out fliers warning people in the neighborhood, and conducted a community meeting in June to prepare neighbors.
Richards said Paschke was released in Snohomish County because his wife lives here.
Among the conditions for his release from McNeil, Paschke can’t have contact with children, visit schools or parks or be alone in public.
“We feel he is being consistent with what’s expected from him from a treatment perspective,” Richards said.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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