11/03/2007 OLYMPIA — Nora Cutshaw, a state worker responsible for escorting civilly committed sex offenders on approved trips, resigned on Oct. 22 in the wake of an allegation that she had an inappropriate relationship with one of them.
“We took the allegations very, very seriously and moved very quickly to ensure it wouldn’t happen again,” said Steve Williams, spokesman for the state Department of Social & Health Services. “We immediately began disciplinary action under state regulations. … It was pretty obvious we were going to give her a letter terminating her, but she got her letter of resignation in first.”
Cutshaw’s attorney, Bruce Finlay of Shelton, said his client is being “railroaded” and denied any wrongdoing. He called the allegation “mistaken innuendo,” and said they plan to sue the state.
“What they’re doing to this woman is shameful,” he said.
Cutshaw had been on administrative leave since the alleged incident, which occurred on April 1, when she escorted a man named Casper Ross from the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island to a relative’s home in Lakewood.
People in the Special Commitment Center have served their prison sentences for sexual crimes but are held indefinitely though a civil process because they are considered to be dangerous.
Ross, 44, is a Level 3 sex offender who was classified as a violent predator. He was convicted of first-degree rape in 1987 for using a knife to kidnap a 12-year-old girl, taking her to a secluded location and raping her. He also has a sexual abuse conviction from 1980 in Oregon that involved a 15-year-old girl he met at a video arcade. In 1999, he was civilly committed to the Special Commitment Center, which houses 265 sexually violent predators.
Ross had completed six levels of treatments and was released to the “less restrictive alternative” area at the commitment center, Williams said. He was allowed to have pre-approved, escorted trips off the island as part of his treatment program to transition back into society, the DSHS spokesman said.
After the alleged improper contact with Cutshaw, Ross was moved back to the Special Commitment Center. A hearing is set for Nov. 16 to determine whether he’ll permanently lose his “less restrictive alternative” privileges.
Local connection
Cutshaw’s husband, Scott, is a former State Patrol trooper who worked in Grays Harbor County. In 1992, he was charged with bribery after allegedly conspiring with a McCleary Police officer to fix a drunken driving ticket.
Cutshaw maintained his innocence and said he thought it was a joke when the officer talked about fixing a ticket for his cousin. Cutshaw ended up pleading guilty to official misconduct, admitting only that he failed to report a ticket-fixing scheme. He was sentenced to five months in jail, and had his conviction vacated in 2006, according to Grays Harbor Superior Court records. Cutshaw now works as a fraud investigator for the state Department of Labor & Industries.
The Cutshaws currently live in Shelton.
Officer investigates
On April 1, Nora Cutshaw escorted Ross to his relative’s home in Lakewood. The visit was scheduled from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. At about 3:30, a local police officer conducted a routine check to make sure the pre-arranged trip was going as scheduled, according to Lakewood Police.
He said he found a state van parked in back of the house, knocked on the back door, the small window next to the door and the kitchen window before Cutshaw opened the back door. He said she looked “disheveled … and she was fixing her shirt.”
The officer said he checked her portfolio, the trip route plan, radio and cell phone, which took about a minute, then saw Ross walking out of a bedroom into the living room. Ross also looked “disheveled and was adjusting the belt around his waist,” the report said.
The officer said the house seemed “really quiet” and asked if anyone else was home. Ross said it was his cousin’s house, but “they were not around right now,” the report said.
The following day, Lakewood Police Chief Larry Saunders sent a letter to the Special Commitment Center’s superintendent, Henry Richards, requesting a full investigation, highlighting Ross’ criminal history and expressing concerns about the safety of the Lakewood community.
“(Ross) was civilly committed upon release from prison due to continuing tendencies for sexual predation that render him a grave danger to our communities,” Saunders wrote. “His actions in this incident appear to reaffirm those dangerous tendencies. …
“Moreover, given these potentially compromising circumstances, we are neither confident of Ms. Cutshaw’s commitment to the protocols nor her capacity to enforce them.”
‘Railroaded’
Cutshaw’s attorney said she “never had any inappropriate contact” with Ross at all.
“All of this has been arrived at through mistaken innuendo — a mistaken and completely incorrect view of what was seen,” Finlay said. “She’s being steamrolled and railroaded, and she’s not going to stand for it.”
The attorney said the bedroom can’t be seen from where the officer was and that Ross wasn’t even wearing a belt that day.
Finlay said his client plans to take legal action against everyone involved — DSHS, the Lakewood Police, even the news organizations that briefly reported on the incident in April.
“The whole thing was unbelievable, quite frankly,” he said. “You can imagine the situation Nora’s in. She’s horrified. Her employers aren’t supporting her and they’re using her as a scapegoat.”
Williams, the Department of Social & Health Services spokesman, said an internal investigation was completed and the “facts still stand.”
Records sought
Details of the investigation, including how often Cutshaw had escorted Ross off the island, have not been released. The Daily World has submitted a public records request for the report.
Cutshaw was hired as a residential rehabilitation counselor in 2004. They’re not therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists or even corrections officers, but simply staffers specially trained to watch and escort the sex offenders, Williams said.
The counselors do the driving and are required to stay in close proximity to the sex offender at all times. They are not armed, by law, but they do have radios and cell phones in order to contact law enforcement officers. Trip plans are filed with the relevant police agency ahead of time, Williams said.
