Kevin Coe had been free for just 62 days when he died on an early December morning.
After four decades of criminal and civil incarceration, Coe — accused of a slew of rapes in Spokane in the late 1970s and early '80s — was feeble, often immobile and in poor health.
He had spent his final days largely bed-bound when he sat up that last morning, his bedsheets soiled, and slid to the floor. Neither a caretaker nor first responders were able to resuscitate him.
Some Washington lawmakers now say those 62 days of freedom were more than Coe was entitled to.
A new bipartisan bill would make it harder to be released from the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, a civil state facility for people indefinitely detained because of past sexual violence. Coe spent nearly the last two decades of his life there after prison.
The Senate proposal, introduced by Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, would bar the release of civilly committed people who do not express remorse for past crimes or do not participate in treatment. Coe did neither.
Rep. Kristine Reeves, D-Federal Way, is the House sponsor.
Schoesler said the bill is in response to the outcry and retraumatization felt by the Spokane community and rape survivors, some of whom were still girls when they said they were attacked and assaulted by Coe decades ago.
But the bill also creates significant constitutional rights violations, legal and disability experts say.
Because Washington's “sexually violent predator” law is civil, not criminal, state and federal high courts have said civil commitment cannot “unduly restrict” someone’s right to be released. Also, courts have barred punitive or coercive conditions.
It is illegal for the state to continue to detain anyone on McNeil Island if prosecutors and experts can’t show someone has a more than 50% likelihood to violently reoffend.
This is why Coe, who had experienced a stroke, was released. Experts found his advanced age and medical frailty meant he no longer met the degree of potential threat, even though he had declined to participate in treatment and had not admitted to — or expressed remorse for — any of his alleged or proven crimes.
“This is about community safety for vulnerable people,” Schoesler said in an interview. “There are still people at the Special Commitment Center who are similar to Coe and we don't want to wait again until after the fact.”
While Schoesler’s bill would significantly incentivize treatment, it doesn’t address long-standing problems in the Special Commitment Center’s treatment program.
In June, The Seattle Times found the institution — which touts its purpose as providing mental health treatment to people who have committed sex crimes — had been offering as little as 90 minutes and no more than two hours of group treatment weekly for the general population. That is a fraction of what state officials and national experts consider acceptable.
There are no regulations mandating the amount or quality of treatment, or any penalty if the state falls short.
But Schoesler said survivors of violent crimes are the focus of his bill, not the quality or efficacy of treatment.
“If the taxpayers want to spend more money on treatment, fine, but if they [McNeill Island residents] reject it, let them rot there,” he said.
As of 2024, 70% of residents of the Special Commitment Center participated in treatment, a decline over the previous year when nearly 80% of residents were involved in the program, according to an internal annual report conducted by the Inspection of Care team.
A 2021 National Institutes of Health study found high-risk individuals who participate voluntarily in treatment are the most likely group to make significant progress, and treatment has been tied to lower rates of sexual violence and other forms of reoffending.
Residents interviewed by The Seattle Times say some people decline treatment because of serious problems with the program. Residents and staff interviewed by The Times say treatment groups were frequently canceled and it was hard for residents to experience consistent care or progress because of a high rate of turnover among treatment providers.
As of last April, only two of the seven psychologist positions were filled at the Special Commitment Center. Nearly a third of all psychology associate jobs — those charged with leading treatment groups — were vacant.
Also, some providers have little or no experience in sex offense treatment before working at the facility, records show.
Rachael Seevers, an attorney for Disability Rights Washington, said Schoesler’s bill raises serious concerns, particularly for residents with disabilities and psychiatric disorders on the island.
“Residents with serious medical needs … and people with serious mental illness who are unable to meaningfully participate in treatment could be precluded from release simply due to their lack of participation,” she said in an email.
In 2014, DRW began investigating conditions for people with disabilities at the Special Commitment Center and found many of these residents were unable to understand the treatment provided, and at times confined for days or weeks in isolation. In turn, the group found residents with cognitive disabilities were essentially being warehoused, unable to access the treatment required for their release.
DRW entered into a settlement agreement with the state to improve treatment, but to date the state “has not yet been found in substantial compliance,” Seevers said.
Seevers also raised concerns about the bill requiring admissions of remorse as a precursor to release.
“Some residents may not remember or appreciate their crime of conviction due to serious mental illness, traumatic brain injuries, dementia, or other cognitive disabilities,” she said.
Jennifer Ritchie, chair of the sexually violent predator unit for the King County prosecuting attorney's office, also said the higher courts may have concerns about the constitutionality of the bill.
“You can't warehouse people on the island,” she said. “The constitution requires a path toward release.”
The bill “may put the judge in a position to decide what is 'adequate remorse,' she said, "and there doesn’t seem to be a legal standard defining that.”
The bill, however, has the bipartisan support of a number of lawmakers.
“I think it is really good policy,” said Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley. “I see the bill as both practical in terms of public safety but also an issue of fairness.”
Wagoner also expressed skepticism about the efficacy of sex offense treatment and understood the bill could raise new legal challenges.
“The courts might tear it up in the future but I think it's a goal worth pursuing, he said. “Your rights stop when you become a menace to society. Everybody doesn't get equal rights.”
Lawmakers have also introduced bipartisan bills aimed at expanding public notification when people are released and additional community supervision requirements.
Similar bills have been percolating since at least 2019 with mixed success. The system for community housing from the Special Commitment Center operates via court order but with little state regulation and piecemeal oversight, a Seattle Times investigation found last year. Warnings about unsafe homes that could put either the public or the residents themselves at risk often went ignored, The Times found.
Still, bills seeking widespread public and government notice for each release could create hurdles in finding safe housing and the community resources that research has shown help to reduce recidivism, legal experts say. Each release is granted based on a court order and on the constitutional right to live outside of an institution if that can be done safely.
In Kevin Coe’s last 62 days, the public outcry over his release caused him to be moved to three separate homes.
Can’t see the form below? Visit st.news/uncommittedsurvey.
© 2026 The Seattle Times. Visit www.seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
