Suspect in Spokane rapes facing civil trial

Man known as South Hill rapist might face commitment as sex predator

SPOKANE, Wash. - A jogger grabbed Julie Harmia as she was walking home from a bus stop, shoved his hand into her mouth, dragged her to a vacant lot and raped her.

As he left he said: "If you go to the police, they cannot protect you 24 hours a day, and I will come and I will kill you."

That was Oct. 23, 1980, and she was among more than 40 women who were raped in well-to-do neighborhoods on the city's South Hill from 1978 to 1981. Some victims were as young as 16.

Now, Harmia is about to again confront the man believed to be the so-called South Hill Rapist.

Kevin Coe, the handsome, clean-cut son of a newspaper editor and a socialite mother, was arrested in 1981, but after two trials and numerous appeals, only his conviction in Harmia's case stood up in court.

Coe has completed his sentence of 25 years in prison, but he's not getting out of jail yet.

Starting Monday, he faces a civil trial as the state tries to keep him locked up indefinitely as a violent sexual predator.

"We think he's mentally ill and dangerous," said Todd Bowers of the state attorney general's office.

In 1990, Washington became the first state to create a program to keep behind bars people determined to be at risk of committing more sex crimes even after they have completed their sentences. A special facility near Tacoma holds about 300 of them, including Coe, whose sentence was completed in 2006.

Prosecutors will seek to convince a jury that Coe suffers from a mental disorder that prevents him from controlling his sexual behavior.

He refused treatment in prison, and has always maintained his innocence, to the point of refusing to cooperate with the parole board for an early release because that would have required that he admit committing the crimes.

It is not clear if Coe will testify. His lawyers say he is suffering from depression, and has become very thin, isn't showering or changing his clothes, and has let his hair and fingernails grow. He has refused antidepressants.

Police suspected Coe of 43 rapes. Some believe the number was at least 53.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26691714/

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{ This is an interesting and unusual case and I urge you to read the whole article. Society must be protected from such people but once a criminal has served their sentence how can you arbitrarily lock them up again forever without new charges? Isn't that being punished twice for the same crime? You can't be tried twice for the same crime { if acquitted of the charges the first time around as in the case of OJ Simpson} so why would it be legal to punish someone twice?

Are his rights as important as the right the community has to be safe and secure on the city streets? If this person is insane why is he in jail in the first place? Are jails built to house the insane all of a sudden instead of criminals? Is there a way out of this dilemma? What about pediphiles......should they be locked up for life upon conviction for their first crime?

What do you think?}