McNeil Island Prison and Pier. Photo via Paul Schultz on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
McNeil Island
In Washington, there is a sexual assault offender treatment center on McNeil Island, which is about 10.7 miles away from the closest city, Lakewood. It is known as the Special Commitment Center run by the Department of Social and Health Services, (DSHS). The Center does not have any regular enforceable state or federal standards for the quality or efficiency of the care provided.
Last year, most residents received a weekly average of 5.25 hours of treatment, while residents with cognitive disabilities got less than three hours a week. The DSHS can not make treatment mandatory, so, one in five residents receive no treatment. For example, Calvin Malone never received treatment but got released seven years later.
“One day I was labeled as a sexually violent predator with the potential of being there for life and the next day, I was not,” Malone said in a Seattle Times article.
“It was miraculous. I never took a day of treatment.” Malone was convicted of child rape and other sex crimes in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He declined treatment because he had had more comprehensive sex offender treatment while in a Washington state prison. Even without receiving treatment, Malone has had no arrests since his release from the Special Commitment Center in 2019.
Rehabilitated or Not?
However, some releases have not had the same outcome as Malone’s. One in four people who were committed and released from the Center have now been arrested for new crimes. One in seven of those people who have been arrested had reoffended in a serious manner, about half included sexual violence. Paul Harell raped women and was sent to the center, but then was released in 2019 as he was deemed successfully treated.
Harell ended up moving to Maryland, but the state of Washington did not observe him as he reentered society. Washington was not tracking Harell’s status, such as registering as a sex offender or when he applied for a cleaning position. He ended up using this job to break into a 74-year-old woman’s home and had cut the woman with a paring knife on the neck and chest, as well as rape her in 2021. Harell is now serving a life sentence for attempted rape, burglary and other charges. With thorough examination, Harell was found to be not successfully treated. He had been lying to his therapist during his time in the Center. Before Harell’s release, his corrections officer had mentioned that his compliance with supervision “appeared to be deteriorating” months prior.
Stayin’ Under Supervision
People like Harell and Malone were unsupervised during their release. Although, defense attorneys and prosecutors recommend that people are released into state-run transition facilities or supervised housing. Supervised housing is similar to group homes where they continue treatment, wear a GPS monitor and avoid contact with minors. The public and lawmakers have been focusing on these supervised releases because it requires public notice. Last spring, there were heated protests in cities such as Enumclaw and Tenino.
Unlike most facilities, the Special Commitment Center does not have to meet state or federal treatment standards. This is because it is not funded via Medicaid or Medicare. Other facilities undergo regular inspections and can be fined or lose federal funding.
