Rapist tries to avoid indefinite prison sentence

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Rapist tries to avoid indefinite prison sentence
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press Writer


SPOKANE, Wash. - Convicted rapist Kevin Coe is a "perfect predator" who should remain locked up indefinitely, a prosecutor said during closing arguments in Coe's civil commitment trial.

But Coe's lawyer said he should be freed and that there is no evidence that his client committed any of the crimes attributed to the so-called South Hill Rapist, except the one for which he has already served 25 years in prison.

"He does not meet the criteria of a sexually violent predator," defense attorney Tim Trageser said.

Prosecutor Malcolm Ross said Wednesday that Coe, 61, has continued to deny committing any sexual offenses, despite extensive evidence to the contrary.

"He is unrepentant and untreated. He is unmistakably dangerous," Ross said. "He has grown older, but he hasn't changed."

A jury must now decide whether Coe suffers from a mental illness that prevents him from controlling his sexual behavior, making him likely to engage in predatory sexual violence. If so, he would be held indefinitely at a special facility for sexual predators on McNeil Island, in the Puget Sound.

The Spokane area was terrorized by the South Hill Rapist attacks in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with dozens of women raped in the neighborhood before Coe was captured in 1981.

Police initially linked Coe to more than 40 rapes, and he was convicted of four. Appellate courts threw out three of those convictions. He completed his sentence in 2006 on the remaining conviction but has spent the past two years at McNeil Island awaiting the civil trial.

Ross told jurors that one of the most damning clues linking Coe to the rapes occurred after Coe's arrest: The rapes stopped.

Experts analyzed many of the unsolved rapes and concluded that he was responsible for 18. They testified that Coe followed a "deviant script" in the crimes, including using more force than was necessary to subdue victims, making humiliating statements to victims, being aroused by urine and feces, and exposing his genitals or fake genitals to strangers to elicit shock.

"He's a kind of perfect predator," Ross said. "He has multiple sexually deviant interests."

The defense dismissed the testimony about the old rapes, saying it was based on "ancient documents" that did not constitute evidence. The state had not proven that Coe committed those crimes, Trageser said.

He also reminded jurors that it was not their job to convict Coe for past crimes.

"You are not here to punish Mr. Coe for crimes he may have committed but is not punished for in the past," Trageser said. "You are prohibited from doing that."

Instead, the trial was a mental health hearing to determine if Coe was likely to re-offend, he said.

Coe testified last week that he posed no threat to women if released from state custody. He maintained his innocence in all the rapes and said he therefore did not need treatment.

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They testified that Coe followed a "deviant script" in the crimes, including using more force than was necessary to subdue victims, making humiliating statements to victims, being aroused by urine and feces, and exposing his genitals or fake genitals to strangers to elicit shock.

He would enjoy the cellar