A Kitsap County jury has decided that repeat sex offender Rick Allen Monroe is a sexually violent predator and must be confined in the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island.

In the interest of public safety, prosecutors from Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s Sexually Violent Predator Unit have been fighting since October 2009, to prevent Monroe’s release into the community.

Monroe, 46, was convicted of indecent liberties in 1984 and first-degree rape of a child in 2000. After this last offense Monroe was scheduled for community release in 2009, but the Attorney General’s Office filed for his civil commitment. Since then, he has been detained at the Special Commitment Center awaiting trial.

The trial began on March 9 and ended March 25 with the jury’s decision that Monroe is a sexually violent predator.

Assistant Attorneys General Kristie Barham and Tom Howe prosecuted the case for the state.

“The Attorney General’s Office works hard to protect our communities from sexually violent predators,” said Attorney General Bob Ferguson. “I’m especially proud of the entire prosecution team for their dedication to this case over the years.”

Under Washington’s civil commitment law, prosecutors had to demonstrate Monroe suffers from specific mental abnormalities and/or personality disorders that cause him to have serious difficulty in controlling his dangerous behavior and make him likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence unless confined to a secure facility.

In 1990, Washington became the first state in the nation to pass a law permitting the involuntary civil commitment of sex offenders after they have served their criminal sentence. The Attorney General’s SVP Unit was established shortly thereafter.

The AGO SVP unit is responsible for prosecuting sex predator cases for 38 of Washington’s 39 counties (King County being the exception). In Fiscal Year 2014, the unit tried 14 cases, won 9 civil commitments and secured one recommitment. Three trials ended in hung juries (meaning the offender remains detained pending a new trial), and one trial involved an offender who was found by the jury to not meet the criteria to be committed as a sexually violent predator.

As of October 2014, 294 sexually violent predators are in the state’s Special Commitment Program.