As news media swarm over the Maurice Clemmons police killings in Washington State, one question demands an answer: did Washington's notorious incest policies lead directly to the murder of four law enforcement officers?
Clemmons was released from jail after being held on child rape charges against a young family member. Now, newly released emails from the Washington Department of Corrections, published by the Seattle Times, show that those familiar with the Clemmons child rape case fought a losing battle to keep him in prison.
"I know you are working hard on this one," wrote Houth Thiem, a Washington State corrections officer, to a superior on August 6th. "I just received a call from Pierce County Sheriff Department Detective Teresa Berg... She is very concerned that Mr. Clemmons continues to make contact with the victims. Right now [name redacted] has turned around and denied the report made against Mr. Clemmons. She is supporting him instead. But Detective Berg said [name redacted] and [name redacted] are very afraid of him, and there was no way that they made up the stories when the incident happened.... At this point she seems to desperately need help from the DOC to monitor Mr. Clemmons if we can."
Corrections officials hoped to hold Clemmons because of an outstanding warrant from Arkansas. But Arkansas officials rescinded their warrant, apparently not wanting the hassle and expense of taking Clemmons back. Washington authorities tried but failed to convince Arkansas to keep its warrant in place, which would have allowed them to keep him detained and his victims protected.
"Hopefully the offender will not get out on bail," Washington DOC official Marjorie Owens warned Arkansas officials.
With no Arkansas warrant to detain Maurice Clemmons, law enforcement was at the mercy of the Washington courts, who had the power to detain Clemmons in the interest of safety or release him on bond. The court freed him.
Would Clemmons have been released on bail if he had raped a 12 or 13 year-old stranger?
Would he have been given a chance to regain access to a child rape victim if Washington State was serious about sexual assault of children within the family?
The fact is that Washington State is home to one of the nation's worst remaining incest loopholes, the Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative (SSOSA). SSOSA provides lighter sentences and different treatment for sex offenders whose victims are family members.
"Washington State is notorious for rewarding incest predators with preferential treatment," said PROTECT executive director Grier Weeks today. "The SSOSA laws have polluted the entire criminal justice and mental health system, corrupting the way that judges, prosecutors and other public servants handle sexual abuse within the family.
"A monster was set loose in Washington State because of a foul incest loophole. Children in four families lost parents because the Washington justice system refused to protect the children in a child rapist's family."
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The National Association to Protect Children is a national, pro-child, anti-crime membership association. We are founded on the belief that our first and most sacred obligation as parents, citizens, and members of the human species is the protection of children from harm.
PROTECT is a bipartisan pro-child, anti-crime lobby whose sole focus is making the protection of children a top political and policy priority at the national, state and local level.
