Last week, the Attorney General’s Office prevailed in two cases that sent individuals considered Sexually Violent Predators (SVPs) to the Special Containment Center (SCC) on McNeil Island for custody, care, and treatment.

“These cases remind us why we have a civil commitment process,” said AG Nick Brown. “Confining people who meet SVP criteria to McNeil Island helps individuals get the treatment they need and keeps Washingtonians safe.”

Washington has some of the strongest sex offender registration and notification laws in the nation. Under state law, when convicted sex offenders who are deemed to have a high risk of re-offending finish their prison sentences, they must undergo a review to determine whether they should be referred for possible civil commitment to the McNeil Island SCC as an SVP.

Washington’s SVP law then allows the AG’s Office to petition for and defend the civil commitment of violent sex offenders who, because of a mental abnormality or personality disorder, are proven likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence if released back into the community.

Every year following commitment, SCC forensic psychologists assess whether the involuntarily committed individual continues to suffer from their mental or personality disorder and whether they remain likely to re-offend. If experts determine that the individual is not likely to re-offend, they can petition for unconditional release. In these cases, the AG’s Office consults additional experts and, depending on their analysis, may go back to court to prove that the individual still meets the SVP criteria. The court may order the individual to remain at the SCC, or the individual may be released with monitoring conditions, including registration as a sex offender.

Following a month-long trial, a jury in Pierce County Superior Court unanimously decided that 30-year-old Sebastian Carroll is a sexually violent predator and civilly committed him to the SCC. Carroll has been convicted of various sex crimes. Last week, the jury found that Carroll suffers from a mental condition that makes him likely to commit predatory sexual crimes unless confined in a secure facility. Assistant Attorneys General Hailey Donovan and Staci Kichler, and Paralegal Martha Neumann handled the case for the state.

In another case decided last week, Derrick Hunter, 56, was remanded to total confinement at the SCC. Hunter has a lengthy history of sex offenses against children and was originally committed to the SCC in 2022. In September 2024, the court granted his release to a less restrictive alternative housing placement under strict monitoring conditions. The Department of Corrections officers monitoring Hunter reported that he violated those conditions numerous times, and the AG’s Office successfully revoked his release after a 4-day evidentiary hearing in a Pierce County Superior Court, returning him to the SCC. Assistant Attorneys General Dylan Opar and Brady Olson, and Paralegal Kelly Hadsell handled the case for the state.

Read the order for the Carroll case here and the Hunter case here.