Also from the courthouse: 9 years for child molester/jogger attacker Duane Starkenburg

3:04 PM: And this afternoon’s other sentencing at the King County Courthouse – 9 years in prison for Duane Starkenburg, who admitted to sexually motivated attacks on joggers, and to molesting a child years earlier. He pleaded guilty last month; court documents indicate he was suspected in “nearly 10” other attacks, though charges were only filed in three.

3:34 PM UPDATE: At this afternoon’s hearing, WSB contributor Katie Meyer reports, no one spoke – either on behalf of the victims, or on behalf of Starkenburg. He was ordered to get treatment for sexual deviancy when his sentence is over, and he has been ordered to stay away from Lincoln Park for a decade. Our photo of him – those following the case will note, he no longer has a shaved head – has been added to this story. (added) That shot was in the hallway; in the courtroom, he tried to hide his face from the cameras:

When Judge Sharon Armstrong asked the defendant if he had anything to say, Starkenburg said simply “No, your honor.” The judge said that the “exceptional” sentence – including the order for him to serve the sentences on the different charges consecutively, not concurrently – “… promotes justice by assuring a sanction that is commensurate with the defendant’s conduct, and in protecting the public from the defendant’s conduct.”

Jiggers April 13, 2012 (3:20 pm)

They are going to love him in prison..

Seattlite April 13, 2012 (3:27 pm)

Castration should be part of his punishment.

angel April 13, 2012 (3:50 pm)

Yeah, I hear child molesters and women attackers are pretty low on the totem pole.

boy April 13, 2012 (5:52 pm)

9 years for fondling someone. Get only 4years for killing someone drunk driving. Don’t get me wrong both crimes are bad but the jail time seams backwards.

mookie April 13, 2012 (6:04 pm)

@boy the charges were for crimes more severe than “fondling” someone. They were attacks and sexual assault, and sexually motivated assaults.
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Separately yes I wish our drunk driving laws had real teeth in them.

Gramps April 14, 2012 (2:10 am)

Um…WHY does the judge want him to take sexual deviancy classes AFTER he has served his sentence and has been released into society? Here’s a novel idea…how about NINE YEARS of sexual deviancy treatment? Is this an unreasonable idea? I would guess that MAYBE it may have some affect on the man BEFORE he’s released, and MAYBE someone in the prison/parole system may know how likely he would be to re-offend PRIOR to his release- which will probably be in less than six years. Wait until AFTER his sentence is served? For God’s sake- and the sake of anyone who passes this criminal’s path once he’s released from prison- why WAIT UNTIL HIS RELEASE before treatment? This is just nonsensical sentencing.

WSB April 14, 2012 (7:09 am)

Gramps, I will check with Katie, who was in the courtroom for us, but my understanding is that while you cannot be required to do that as a prisoner, you can as a parolee (not the term our state uses but it’s an easier word to use than “community custody inmate” for what happens once you’re out of prison but not entirely unsupervised).

Gramps April 14, 2012 (9:02 am)

Yes, please do update/educate me. Either way… there is SOMETHING that is drastically wrong with the way that this sentence is turning out…be it the Judge or the law itself. Thank you, WSB- Gramps.

Jiggers April 14, 2012 (1:10 pm)

It is a proven fact that these types of human beings (if you call them that) cannot be rehabilitated. They reoffend within months after being let go.

Gramps April 14, 2012 (8:27 pm)

Jiggers, my point exactly- with the extremely high rate or re-offending, why are we as a society allowing them to be freed prior to at least some kind of mandatory sexual deviancy/predator therapy- ongoing during the ENTIRE sentence? If, like the Editor of WSB tells me, is true- these inmates cannot be forced to take sexual deviancy/predator therapy, maybe our State Lawmakers, the ones we vote for- should look into the possibility of a life sentence for the first offense, with parole being made available only to those who “voluntarily” attend sexual deviancy treatment….I just think it’s high time our publicly paid litigators slow down the making of new laws to put more people in prison- and start changing some of the laws to correct the thinking of criminals WHILE in prison- not after they are set free. I know there’s no easy answer, but this irks me- “get treatment AFTER your prison sentence.” what the hell is incarceration for in the State of Washington, anyway?!? All this money that I hear that the prison system is costing us- is any part of the prison system set up to make the public safer when their “debt to society” has been paid?

Alki Resident April 16, 2012 (12:30 am)

With a ton of parks in Washington,I’d like to know why he is only banned from Lincoln Park. He lives halfway between Lincoln Park and the new Denny Middle school park. There’s no doubt in my mind he WILL reoffend when he gets out.We WILL hear his name again and Im sick for his next victim. He is so stuck on repeat that keeping him in jail will only make him think of other ways to go about his assults.Wish he was given alot more time.

Army ranger April 16, 2012 (2:55 pm)

They should castrate and cut off his hands.

Gramps April 16, 2012 (7:56 pm)

I agree halfway with you, Army Ranger- ‘Voluntary’ Castration to become eligible for parole on a first time offense life-in-prison sentence- along with sexual predator/deviancy therapy the ENTIRE time of incarceration. The loss of hands would just mean that he’d have to be supported AGAIN by the taxpayer once released. The simple Castration can be paid for by the inmates family, or whatever earnings the inmate obtains while incarcerated. Whatya say, West Seattle Lawmakers? If the ACLU needs to whine about it, they can first spend their time worrying about the lost “Civil Liberties” of the more than a dozen victims of Starkenburg….

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