Convicted rapist Coe: I pose no threat to women

SPOKANE — Convicted rapist Kevin Coe said Tuesday that he would pose no threat to women if released from state custody and is at "zero" risk to reoffend.

Coe, testifying in court for the first time since his trials in the sensational South Hill Rapist cases more than two decades ago, continued to maintain he is innocent of all the rape allegations against him.

He also said he would not seek treatment for sexual deviancy if released.

"I don't believe I need that," Coe told the jury of eight women and four men. "That's not how I would define myself."

Coe spent just over an hour on the witness stand in Spokane County Superior Court in a civil case in which the state seeks to hold him in custody indefinitely as a sexual predator. He has already served his 25-year sentence for the one rape he was convicted of, and two additional years in custody awaiting this trial.

Coe, 61, was called as a witness by the Washington Attorney General's Office. He spoke in a raspy voice and sparred constantly with Assistant Attorney General Malcolm Ross over facts such as the color of track suits.

Coe said he would probably move to Nevada if released, and would have to get a job and rely on help from his sister to support himself. He acknowledged he failed to learn a skill in prison, saying he spent most of the time trying to prove he was innocent.

Coe's attorney, Tim Trageser, declined to cross-examine his client, saying he would do that when he called Coe to testify during the defense portion of the trial.

Much of Coe's time on the witness stand involved Ross questioning him about rape cases dating back nearly three decades, and then having Coe read testimony from his 1981 trial that appeared to contradict his current answers.

Ross contended Coe had spun "a web of lies" for years and now couldn't keep his story straight.

In response to questions, Coe said he was trying to catch the South Hill Rapist when he roamed the affluent area at odd hours.

He and Ross sparred over the color of his running suits, whether he jogged on a track or on grass, whether he hid behind trees and watched women he did not know. Coe attributed many of the discrepancies to unclear questions or errors in the court record.

Coe also denied that he confessed a rape to a psychiatrist. In an attempt to have Coe sent to a mental hospital instead of prison, Dr. Robert Wetzler testified at Coe's 1981 sentencing that he had admitted to raping one woman.

But Coe said Tuesday he never actually admitted anything to Wetzler.

"He's the one who chose the count — I didn't," Coe said. "You had to admit to something [in order to get treatment], so I said, fine."

Spokane was terrorized by the South Hill Rapist crimes from the 1960s to the early 1980s, with dozens of women raped in the neighborhood before Coe was captured in 1981.

Coe was originally linked by police to more than 40 rapes but was convicted of four. Appellate courts threw out three of those convictions, leaving Coe with a single rape conviction. He completed his sentence in 2006.

Coe has steadfastly maintained his innocence.

The state contends Coe suffers from mental disorders that prevent him from controlling his sexual behavior, and that he is a danger to reoffend.