A judge ruled a Spokane County child rapist is a "sexually violent predator" and will be civilly committed to the state's Special Commitment Program.
The ruling followed a trial prosecuted by state Attorney General Bob Ferguson's Sexually Violent Predator Unit, according to an attorney general's office news release.
Daniel Gard raped five girls between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. He videotaped several of the sexual assaults.
Once apprehended, he disclosed many more female victims of sexual assaults, some as young as 3 years old, the AG's office said. The crimes spanned nearly fifteen years.
In prison, Gard was caught possessing sexually explicit material and photos of underage children on multiple occasions.
Prior to his scheduled 2022 release, the AG's office filed a Sexually Violent Predator case, took it to trial and successfully committed Gard to the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island.
The office proved Gard has a mental condition that makes him likely to commit predatory sexual crimes.
"It's a high bar to designate someone a sexually violent predator," Ferguson said in the release. "It's reserved for people who are likely to continue to commit sexually violent crimes, unless we intervene. My team works every day to ensure our communities are protected from these individuals."
Washington's Sexually Violent Predator law allows the state AG's office to petition for and defend the civil commitment of violent sex offenders who, because of a mental abnormality and/or personality disorder, are proven likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence if released.
In 1990, Washington became the first state to pass a law permitting the involuntary civil commitment of sex offenders after they serve their criminal sentences. The Sexually Violent Predator Unit was established shortly thereafter.
The unit is responsible for prosecuting sex predator cases for 38 of Washington's 39 counties, with King County being the exception.
There are 195 sexually violent predators in the state's Special Commitment Program.
