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Prosecutor: 'Sexual predator' teen should be jailed for life
by Michelle Esteban
June 24, 2011
KOMOnews.com
Seattle
SHORELINE, Wash. - A King County prosecutor is arguing that a Shoreline teenager due to be released from juvenile detention is a "violent sexual predator" and should be locked up for life.
Court filings reveal the offender, now 19, started molesting when he was just 4 years old. But the teen and his grandparents insist he's earned a second chance.
According to his hefty court file, Zachary Nelson has a string of sexual assaults - and was first arrested when he was just 9 years old. |
King County prosecutors are convinced he'll reoffend and want him committed for life. They have filed a civil suit asking a jury to order the 19-year-old confined indefinitely at a state center on McNeil Island.
But Zachary's grandmother, Judy Nelson, says that seems excessive.
"Committal for life? That's really tough," she says. "To lock him up again - pardon me - that gives him no chance."
Nelly Nelson, Zachary's grandfather, says he too was taken aback after hearing of the prosecutor's motion.
"To have a blow like this - it really hits below the belt," he says.
Judy and Nelly Nelson say their grandson deserved to be locked up for his 4-year sentence, but not for life.
The prison sentence was for molesting a 4-year-old. Zachary snuck into a neighbor's Shoreline home, pulled the boy from his bed and sexually assaulted him.
Zachary was just 15 at the time. He was only 9 the first time he was arrested - for sexually assaulting a 4-year-old. He wasn't prosecuted because he was so young.
Court filings show a string of fondlings and sexual assaults that began when he was only 4 years old himself. It says a daycare worker caught him fondling another 4-year-old.
Zachary's past history - along with a state evaluation - is why the prosecutor insists Zach will reoffend if released.
A state psychologist wrote in court documents that Zachary has psychiatric problems that cause him “serious difficulty in controlling his behavior and predispose him to the commission of criminal sexual acts.” Nelson, he wrote, presents a “menace to the health and safety of others.”
But Zachary himself says he deserves a second chance.
He spoke with a KOMO News reporter after calling his grandparents from McNeil Island during an interview.
"I understand their concern," he says. "I can understand anybody's concerns on anybody who has committed a crime like this."
But Zachary insists he's changed and matured.
"I learned enough to understand the pain I've caused my victims, the community and my family members," he says. "I've become a better man, and I've learned from my mistakes."
Says his grandmother: "If he believes, truly, that he would not re-offend - and he's told me this - I believe him."
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http://www.komonews.com/news/local/124523094.html
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