"Hello, Washington! Maybe I'll be showing up soon, too!"
Arrest warrant is issued for sex offender
By Christine Clarridge, Seattle Times staff reporter
Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Art Curtis said when he first read about the release of Edward Harvey Stokes last week from a California prison, his first thought was, "Thank God, he's not our problem."
A few hours later, he was. Police quickly learned that Stokes, a convicted sex offender, had signed up for a Washington driver's license using a Vancouver address.
But when Curtis and his deputy prosecutors learned Thursday that Stokes has never lived at that address, they spotted a way to put him behind bars. Stokes, 49, is now charged in Clark County with second-degree perjury, a felony, and for fraud in obtaining a driver's license, a misdemeanor. If convicted, he could face a maximum five-year sentence, Curtis said.
"We dropped everything to make sure this (arrest) warrant got into the system," Curtis said yesterday. "We wanted to make sure the community knew he had been seen in our area and we wanted the ability to take him off the streets if we found him."
But police had not located Stokes yesterday. Curtis said he had been sighted recently in Portland and in Clark County. Police in King County say Stokes joined Costco at its Tukwila store Tuesday. There are no allegations that Stokes has committed any new sex offenses since his release.
Police and prosecutors initially said there was little they could do to prevent Stokes from setting up house in Washington. He was released from prison without conditions of parole or probation. He had a 30-day grace period to register as a sex offender.
"We believe he has already committed a new felony" by giving a bad address on his license application, Curtis said. "Finding him is a high priority for us."
Stokes ? who once told a therapist he had assaulted more than 200 boys ? was released from an Orange County, Calif., prison April 7, after a California appeals court overturned his conviction for drugging and sexually assaulting a 16-year-old runaway he met in Seattle.
The court ruled Stokes, who was sentenced to 19 years to life, had been denied a constitutional right by not getting a chance to confront his accuser, who committed suicide several months before Stokes' trial.
The ruling came after a U.S. Supreme Court decision issued last month that overturned 25 years of precedent and ruled that criminals have a constitutional right to cross-examine all witnesses against them.
Stokes has several other sex-crime convictions in Washington and Oregon dating back to his teens.
In King County, where Stokes grew up, he was convicted of sodomy in 1976, unlawful imprisonment in 1980 and third-degree statutory rape in 1986, according to court documents.
In 1987, he was convicted in Whatcom County of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes and delivering a controlled substance.
His record also includes two Oregon convictions: being a felon in possession of a weapon and giving liquor to a minor in 1991, and attempted sexual abuse the following year.
Before the furor over his release erupted, Stokes had told his lawyers that he had hoped to lead a normal life out of prison.
"I am being given another chance, and I do hope to use it to further my education and learn to blend into the community without further incidents," he wrote in a letter obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
"The court has given me my life back, and I do plan on using it to the best of purposes this day and every day from this point on."
Law-enforcement officials in the Seattle area plan to keep an eye out for him. In the meantime, they welcomed the publicity the case has drawn.
"Sure, he deserves a chance," said King County sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart. "But because of who he is and what he's done, he is dangerous, he's classified as dangerous, and people should be aware that he's out there."