A Clark County jury on Wednesday decided to civilly commit repeat sex offender Michael Canty following a 1 1/2 weeklong trial in Superior Court, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Sexually Violent Predator Unit filed a petition in 2016 to prevent Canty’s release into the community. His trial began June 12 and ended Wednesday, a news release from the Attorney General’s Office states.
Canty, 39, was convicted of sexual battery, attempted kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment in 1996. He was convicted of indecent liberties with forcible compulsion and first-degree burglary with sexual motivation in 2001. Canty was scheduled to be released in August 2016, before the Attorney General’s Office filed for his civil commitment. He had been awaiting trial at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island.
The state’s Sexually Violent Predator law allows the Attorney General’s Office to petition for the involuntary commitment of violent sex offenders who, because of mental illness or personality disorder, are found likely to reoffend if they are released.
