"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years".........Sarah Tofte
Killsnight, 49, who has a history of molesting boys, plotted and lured to take the boy far from his parents and committed "what can only be described as evil acts on him," Cebull said.
The life sentence was mandatory under a rarely used law designed to strengthen penalties against those who commit crimes against children. The prosecutor used a repeat-offender statute enacted as part of the 2003 Protect Act in seeking the life sentence.
Jill Trumbull-Harris, a trial attorney for the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Department of Justice, said Killsnight presented himself as thoughtful and nice, which enabled him "to be the child molester he was." He has proven himself to be "incapable of reform," she said.
Killsnight had been out of prison about two months in a previous case of sexually abusing a minor when he committed the crime that ultimately led to life in prison. He pleaded guilty in October to transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal activity and to travel with intent to have illicit sexual conduct.
Killsnight admitted he met a 15-year-old boy in Billings in the fall of 2005 and took him to Washington. During the trip, Killsnight gave the boy alcohol and various illicit drugs and molested him numerous times, the prosecutor said.
Law enforcement officers arrested Killsnight in Seattle in December 2005 after noticing stolen license plates on his vehicle and learning that there was a federal warrant for his arrest. The boy's family had reported him missing. The day before he got arrested, Killsnight had the boy steal new license plates and put them on his vehicle.
"My son was a happy, easygoing kid before this," said the victim's father. The boy now is "all held in" and doesn't want to deal with what happened, the father said. He paused during his statement to give Killsnight, who sat in shackles, a long look.
"He cares only for himself," the father said. The only reason Killsnight sought sex offender treatment on previous convictions was so he could get back on the street and abuse more victims, he said.
"I don't think he (Killsnight) should be afforded a chance to victimize anyone ever again. I don't know why the court should allow him any leniency," he said.
Dave Merchant, an assistant federal defender, didn't dispute that Killsnight needed to be in prison.
"He is pretty much every parent's nightmare," he said.
However, Merchant said, Killsnight needed sex offender counseling, and his best chance for that was if the judge sentenced him to a specific term, such as 400 years, rather than life. A life sentence would put Killsnight in a maximum-security prison with no hope of becoming eligible for programs because the Bureau of Prisons deems that "a waste of finances."
Killsnight has "thoughtfully explored" his problem in previous sex-offender programs but could benefit from real treatment, Merchant said.
Killsnight offered no apologies but expressed his desire to continue sexual-offender treatment.
In pronouncing the sentence, Cebull said he didn't believe the defense's position that Killsnight would take back his actions if he could. "I think that's part of your manipulation," he told Killsnight.
Killsnight had at least eight documented cases of sexually abusing boys going back 30 years. The boy Killsnight took to Washington is "the very last of your victims," the judge said. Because of his criminal record, Killsnight doesn't "deserve anything less" than life, he said. And the judge had no problem with Killsnight being in maximum security.
If Killsnight had not qualified for the mandatory life sentence, Cebull said, he would have departed on a number of grounds to arrive at the same punishment.
Before his latest conviction, Killsnight had at least six prior relevant convictions for sex offenses against children. Three of the prior convictions each qualified him for the repeat-offender status and the mandatory life sentence.
Court documents reflect that Killsnight has a record of committing sexual assaults on minors which spans more than 25 years.
Killsnight was convicted of third-degree rape in King County, Wash. in 1982, for forcibly raping a 15-year-old.
In 1985, he was convicted of sexual assault in Monmouth County, N.J., for raping a sleeping 12-year-old.
In 1993, he was convicted of custodial interference in Cascade County, Mont., for transporting a 16-year old from Elizabeth, N.J. to Montana and attempting to molest the minor along the way.
After serving a 12-year sentence for his 1993 conviction (and for federal sexual assault convictions stemming from his molestation and rape of three other minors), Killsnight was released from federal prison on Sept. 13, 2005, less than two months before meeting the victim involved in the current prosecution.
13% of all new sex crimes is committed by someone
who is already on the sex offender registry
..........Sarah Tofte, Human Rights Watch
who is already on the sex offender registry
..........Sarah Tofte, Human Rights Watch
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