EVERETT — A convicted sex offender who has been confined to the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island since 1995 failed to convince a jury he is safe to be released.
A Snohomish County jury concluded Friday that Patrick McGaffee, 46, is a sexually violent predator and should remain in custody.
McGaffee pleaded guilty in 1992 to attempted rape of a 15-year-old neighbor boy.
He left messages threatening to rape the boy and then broke into the neighbor’s house. A family friend was there and called 911. McGaffee was shot in the shoulder during a scuffle.
He’d been investigated earlier for trying to buy or steal socks from school children. Detectives searched his house and found three drawers and other containers full of socks.
McGaffee was sentenced to four years in prison. Then in 1998 he was found to be a sexually violent predator.
In 2013, he won a trial to determine if his condition had improved.
The trial began June 9 with the state Attorney General’s Office tasked with proving that McGaffee still met the criteria for civil commitment. Jurors reached their verdict Friday.
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