Federal Judge Denies New Trial for South Hill Rapist

Kevin Coe, sent to prison in 1985 for sexual assaults in Spokane, will remain behind bars.

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office reported Wednesday U.S. District  Court Judge Robert J. Bryan denied Coe's petition.

Coe was set to be originally released in 2006, but due to Washington state's civil commitment law,  dangerous criminals can be involuntarily kept behind bars even after their sentence is finished.  Prosecutors must offer a burden of proof that if this person were released, they would still pose a severe threat to the community.

Because of this law, Coe's attorney had petitioned above the state, going to federal court.  But with the rejection, he will remain interned at McNeil Island Penitentiary.

Coe was convicted in 1985 of rape, and his crimes terrorized the city.   The Attorney General's office linked him to a total of 36 crimes, including 18 rapes that never went to trial.   Because most of his assaults occurred in often affluent neighborhoods on Spokane's South Hill,  he was dubbed "the South Hill Rapist."