Doug Clark: Day in Kevin Coe’s courtroom an unsettling encounter

I need a shower.

A really hot shower. With lots and lots of soap.

And maybe an amnesia drug.

Anything to wipe away the fecal memories of my day with Kevin Coe.

Oh, it sounded like such a great idea. I got up Monday morning, brewed a pot of coffee, picked up the newspaper …

“Coe faces day of reckoning,” blared the headline across the top of Page One.

Hmm. That sounds like an intriguing field trip, I said to myself. I’ll go see if state prosecutors can win one for Team Human. The goal is to persuade Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor to grant a civil trial that could keep Spokane’s infamous South Hill rapist locked away for the rest of his days.

If not, Coe walks. He’s done his time, more than 25 years.

So I made my way to the county courthouse and submitted to two security checks. At 9:37 a.m., the guards led Coe into a hallway on the fourth floor, where he was greeted by a photographic flurry of shutter clicks.

If you didn’t count the handcuffs, the South Hill rapist might have passed for a college professor: brown corduroy jacket, soft blue dress shirt, brown patterned tie and khaki slacks.

The impassive age-worn face was the giveaway. A quarter-century in the joint would suck the animation out of a cinderblock.

Then the hearing began. The twisted facts emerged.

Kevin Coe is no run-of-the-mill creep. He’s a serial rapist driven by an unholy stew of perverse urges. He enjoys humiliating his victims. He gets aroused by body wastes and exposing himself.

There’s only so much a guy can hear before the dry heaves kick in.

Forensic psychologist Amy Phenix, poised and articulate, spent most of the day answering defense questions.

She didn’t budge from her contention that Coe is a sexually violent predator who is likely to re-offend. Because of that, he should be kept away from society.

Her conclusion is based on three months of wading through 66,900 pages of official reports and records pertaining to the South Hill rapist.

That must have made for some wonderful dinner conversations.

“What did you accomplish today, Amy?”

“Oh, I made it through page 45,789. I’m getting into the coprophilia section.”

All through the testimony, the 59-year-old Coe sat in his chair, his face an impenetrable, expressionless mask.

What was going through that noggin?

Was Coe reliving his deeds?

Was he getting off on the graphic details?

Was he planning ahead?

One of Coe’s defenders, Tim Trageser, attempted to make the point that Coe had not demonstrated any of Phenix’s allegations in all his time behind bars.

Yeah. He’s a Boy Scout.

But Coe is smart. He knows he’s being watched. There’s no reason to believe Coe has changed his ways.

Originally charged with six rapes, Coe was convicted of four. Only one of those convictions was upheld because of hypnosis that was used during interview sessions with victims and witnesses.

Coe’s not admitting to anything these days. He’s never agreed to any treatment.

Let him out and he may not strike right away. It might take months or even years.

But I’m a believer that people follow the desires of their heart.

Golfers golf. Painters paint. …

Kevin Coe is a professional rapist.

The hearing resumes this morning. I won’t be going back for seconds.

I’ll probably just stay home all day in the shower.