Mayoral candidate has sex crime conviction

A candidate for Millwood mayor was convicted of a sex crime the early 1980s, court documents show.

Robert Paul Mankin, now 64, pleaded guilty to attempted indecent liberties in 1982 and served three years of probation, according to Superior Court documents and the Department of Corrections.

On a signed guilty-plea statement, Mankin wrote that after “drinking a lot” he felt his daughter’s breast.

The retired boilermaker filed last week to run for mayor of Millwood and said on Wednesday he plans to continue his campaign.

“I will do anything in my power to defend myself,” he said.

A document from a Washington State Patrol criminal database related to Mankin’s probation was sent anonymously to area newspapers and the Millwood Town Hall earlier this week.

Superior Court records confirm that Mankin was convicted.”The people that hurt me by using a lot of innuendos and stuff … God have mercy on them,” Mankin said of whoever mailed the record.

His supporters will stand up for him, he said, and he is willing to go door-to-door to promote his candidacy.

“I’m not dangerous – only politically,” he said.

Mankin this week denied molesting his daughter. He said he pleaded guilty to spare his family from a lengthy trial.

Mankin said the charges against him were conjured up by people who were angry about a dispute he had with a middle school regarding his children staying late for detention.

Shortly after Mankin’s conviction, his daughter, who was 14 and in foster care, died of natural causes, according to a coroner’s report.

Mankin frequently has charged that Millwood Mayor Jeanne Batson and other city officials have restricted his access to public meetings and retaliated against him for trying to expose what he alleges is misconduct in the town government.

Batson, who is not running for re-election, contends that Mankin has “agitated the whole town,” and that he is the reason security glass was installed between customers and employees at the town’s customer service window.

“None of us know who that was” who sent the record, Batson said.

Millwood Councilman Dan Mork, who is running against Mankin, said he was not aware of the charges and did not mail the court record.

A search of court records did not show any criminal convictions for Mork, aside from two speeding tickets.

Mankin pleaded guilty to a charge of negligent driving in February 2004 and was sentenced to 24 months of probation. The charge was amended from driving under the influence of alcohol, according to court documents.

In January, Mankin was charged with reckless driving.

Cleve McCoul, Millwood’s public works director, said that twice he and another city employee were driving in a city truck when Mankin swerved his vehicle into their lane from the opposite direction and then swerved back.

McCoul said they reported the two incidents after police were called to Town Hall by other employees who said Mankin was harassing them.

That case is pending, and Mankin said he has never hurt anyone.