Jury rejects predator label for rapist

A convicted rapist with a history of stalking women is free after a King County jury on Thursday unanimously decided that he is not a sexually violent predator who should be sent to the Special Commitment Center (SCC).

Toney Bates had served a prison sentence for third-degree rape when county prosecutors last year filed a petition to have him labeled a predator and sent to the center on McNeil Island, where the state holds its most dangerous sex offenders after they get out of prison.

It took jurors only three hours to reach a decision, according to Bates' defense team.

Once committed by a jury, the center's residents can be involuntarily held until a court decides they no longer pose a risk. There are 289 SCC residents, with more than a third of them from King County.

Prosecutors argued that Bates has a history of sexual offenses and that the jury should find that he suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder that contributes to his risk of reoffending. Defense attorneys said Bates does not fit the state's definition of a sexually violent predator because he does not have a legally recognized mental or personality disorder.

Bates was convicted of third-degree rape and sentenced to 15 months for assaulting a family member in 2004. The state considers him a Level III sex offender, the most likely to reoffend.

Bates will remain under community supervision for 36 to 48 months, said defense attorney Mick Woynarowski. He declined to disclose his client's whereabouts on Thursday or to say what Bates' plans are.

Jail records show that Bates, who turned 39 on Tuesday, has been released from the King County Jail.

Bates has been implicated in more than two dozen incidents of sexual misconduct, including exposing himself, stalking, slipping his hand under the shirt of a shopper at a Bellevue mall, peeking under a dressing-room stall at a Kmart and propositioning a woman at the airport immediately after dropping off a girlfriend.

The 300-pound, 6-foot-2-inch Bates attended the University of Iowa on a football scholarship and briefly played for the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders. He moved to the Seattle area in 1996.

King County prosecutors typically seek civil commitment for eight to 10 sex offenders a year.

Only once before has a King County jury freed someone whom prosecutors wanted committed. That man, Curtis Thompson, has since been charged with rape and murder.

Information from The Seattle Times' archives is included in this report.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com