State Has Female Sex Predator Court Finding Is Second In U.S.

A woman will be committed indefinitely for treatment of sexual deviancy, possibly in Minnesota, under an agreement between her lawyers and Pierce County prosecutors.

The decision issued Tuesday by Superior Court Judge Karen Strombom made Laura Faye McCollum, 39, the first woman in the state and only the second nationwide to be classified by court action as a sexual predator.

Last week, McCollum admitted molesting dozens of young boys and girls, including a 4-day-old girl. She said she wants treatment in the hope that it would keep her from molesting children again if she is released.

For now, Strombom ordered her treated indefinitely at the state’s high-security Special Commitment Center at Monroe, which contains 42 men. McCollum was sent there last year after completing a 5-1/2-year term for repeatedly raping a 2-year-old girl, but her lawyers say the program is inappropriate and potentially dangerous for a woman.

Under Washington law, sexual offenders may be committed indefinitely to the program if a judge or jury finds they are likely to commit similar crimes after they are released from prison.

The agreement allows McCollum’s lawyers to ask that the state consider sending her to a program in Minnesota that was designed for the nation’s first woman to be classified as a sexual predator.