Hatfield will remain at the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, where he’s been confined since his release from prison in February 2012. That same year, he began to exhibit psychotic symptoms, according to testimony.
Hatfield was convicted of attempted lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor younger than 14 in 1982 in California and first-degree child molestation in 1998 in Clark County. In addition to his conviction record, Hatfield has admitted to sex offenses against another 70 victims, which were never reported or prosecuted, said Assistant Attorney General Jeremy Bartels.
The state requested the civil commitment, as part of a law passed in 1990, which allows the state to lock up sexually violent predators, as defined by the law. The state had to prove at trial that Hatfield had been convicted of sexually violent crimes and has a mental abnormality or personality that makes him unlikely to control his sexually violent behavior.
The state’s expert witness, forensic psychologist Henry Richards, testified that in addition to pedophilia, Hatfield has eight other diagnosed disorders, including bipolar disorder, dissociative disorder and alcoholism. Those other disorders exacerbate his pedophilia, Bartels argued in closing statements Monday.
Hatfield’s attorney, Rachel Forde, on Monday argued that Hatfield is incapable of committing sex acts against children because of his mental condition. She said even if the judge didn’t consider Hatfield’s psychosis, the state had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hatfield has even a 50 percent likelihood of recidivism when compared with similar offenders.
She and attorney Christine Sanders presented two defense experts, forensic psychiatrist Fabian Saleh, and forensic psychologist Brian Abbott, to support their case, which was presented Friday and Monday.
According to court records, Hatfield molested two children, ages 10 and 11, in February 1998 at Vancouver’s Arnold Park, which is near the crossroads of state Highway 500 and St. Johns Boulevard in the Minnehaha neighborhood. He encountered the boys as they and some of their friends were changing clothes under a bridge by a swimming hole near a section of the city’s Discovery Trail, which passes through the park.
Days later, the boys said they encountered Hatfield again at the park. Hatfield lured them away from the trail to his “fort” in the woods, where he molested the 11-year-old. He also attempted to expose himself to the boys, Bartels wrote in court documents.
Hatfield in March 1998 was charged with one count of first-degree child molestation, three counts of luring and two counts of felony communication with a minor for immoral purposes. In a plea agreement with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty in April 1998 to only one count of first-degree child molestation and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. At that point, he already had a long history of inappropriate conduct with children and a failure to receive counseling for his problem, Bartels wrote. He also has child sex offense convictions in California and Kansas. Most of his victims were males between the ages of 10 and 13.
“Essentially, everywhere he’s lived he has steadfastly and continuously committed sexual acts toward children,” Bartels said Monday.
In 2013, 16 sex offenders in the state were civilly committed as sexually violent predators, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Hatfield’s case was unusual in that a judge, rather than a jury, rendered the verdict.
