Victim’s Dad Seeks Juvenile Law Reforms He Says Teen Who Raped, Killed Sitter Could Have Been Stopped

Eight weeks after his daughter was raped and killed while baby-sitting at a neighbor’s home, Steve Jones is crusading for changes in the system that he blames for her death.

Ashley Jones’ killer, 17-year-old David Dodge, committed the crime after walking away from his job in Lynnwood while living at the Larch Way Lodge group home for young offenders.

“My daughter should be here right now,” Jones told The Herald of Everett in his first public comments since his daughter’s killing.

“There are no excuses any government agent can give me that (Dodge) should not have been locked in a more secure facility. He should not have been allowed to walk away from his job.”

Dodge, who pleaded guilty to Ashley’s rape and murder and awaits sentencing, had been convicted of five burglaries in less than three years. He had no previous juvenile court convictions for violent crimes. But law officers who knew Dodge have since told Jones that the youth had a violent streak.

That kind of information should have been used to determine where Dodge spent the sentence of 30 to 40 weeks that he’d been given by an Island County judge, Jones said.

Jones, his friends, and relatives of other crime victims are pushing legislators to change several laws dealing with Washington’s juvenile justice system.

For starters, Jones said, he believes burglary should be considered a violent crime.

“Imagine if you slept through a burglary in your house,” he said. “How would you feel? I think you would feel violated.”

Child privacy laws should be relaxed in some cases to make it easier for law enforcement agencies and schools to share information about offenders, he added.

If police with opinions about Dodge had turned that information over to juvenile authorities earlier, before state Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration workers decided he was a low enough risk to send to a group home, Ashley would not have died, Jones said.

Quicker justice, more money for the state crime laboratory and changes in rape laws also are on his list.

Lawmakers expect the 1998 Legislature to pass some changes in rules for operating group homes and screening the youths who go there.

There “are some gaps we need to fill to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said state Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell.

Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington, a longtime critic of the state Department of Social and Health Services, blames bureaucracy. DSHS oversees the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, the division responsible for juvenile prisons and group homes.

“I honestly believe we have the checks and balances in place, but I don’t think the department is adhering to those,” Stevens said.

Sid Sidorowicz, DSHS assistant secretary for the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, said his staff was diligent when it came to monitoring activities at Larch Way Lodge.

Dodge’s crime couldn’t have been foreseen, he said.

At legislative hearings after Ashley’s rape and murder, Sidorowicz asked legislators to change state law to help administration workers obtain more background information about juvenile offenders before assigning them to group homes.

Sidorowicz said schools and police departments often have information not contained in juvenile court records that should be considered but is unknown to the juvenile authorities when risk is assessed.

The Joneses have another daughter, who is 19, and a son, 8.

The boy has had trouble dealing with the loss of his sister, and asks why Dodge wasn’t shot when he was captured.

“How do you answer that question for an 8-year-old child who has lost his sister,” Jones asks.