First woman committed to state's sex predator center denied release
Laura Faye McCollum(Photo: freerepublic.com)
TACOMA -- The first woman ever committed to Washington's special commitment center for sexually violent predators on McNeil Island on Friday was denied release to a halfway house.
Laura Faye McCollum, 55, was placed at the center in 1995 after a conviction for first-degree child rape in Pierce County.
Her attorneys had asked for a trial to determine whether she's eligible to transfer out of the special commitment center and into a halfway house.
But on Friday, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff turned down that request. He ruled she still meets the definition of a sex predator and that she would benefit from further treatment. The judge said, however, he would reconsider his decision if McCollum offered a firm plan of where she would live and a treatment program.
McCollum voluntarily accepted commitment after serving a five and a half year sentence for repeatedly molesting a girl between the ages of 2 and 3.
Later, she confessed to other sexual assaults on children.
State mental health experts still consider McCollum a danger to re-offend.