Jury denies release of sexually violent predator
By Terry Murry on Monday, November 21st, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA – A Walla Walla County jury has denied the release to a sexually violent predator after prosecutors from Washington’s Sexually Violent Predator Unit proved Justin Mackey, 42, remains mentally ill and sexually dangerous.
He was convicted of three counts of first-degree rape of a child 1993 and later convicted of third-degree child molestation in 2002 – both crimes committed in Walla Walla County.
In 2008, Mackey was found to be a sexually violent predator and was committed to the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, where he has remained in total confinement since that time. A trial began on Nov. 7 in which Mackey argued that the state could no longer prove he currently meets the sexually violent predator definition.
The trial concluded Friday with the jury’s verdict that the state had proved Mackey continues to currently suffer from a mental condition that makes him likely to commit predatory sexual crimes.
