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Staff Smuggle Drugs and Porn to Washington Civil Commitment Prisoners
A Washington Special Commitment Center (SCC) nurse who fell in love with a civilly committed violent sex offender pleaded guilty to smuggling him drugs and homemade pornographic videos; the offender and two other people were charged with drug-related offenses.
SCC opened in 1990 at the Monroe Correctional Complex, but later moved to McNeil Island. Approximately 1 percent of the state’s sex offenders – about 290 – are indefinitely confined at SCC under Washington’s civil commitment law.
In theory SCC is a treatment center and not a prison, though it operates as a secure facility and its residents are held under prison-like conditions. “It’s a de facto warehouse, regardless of what the intention is,” said Pete MacDonald, an attorney with The Defender Association, a Seattle-based criminal defense organization.
Lawrence A. Williams was committed to SCC in 2004 for sexual assault; he had previously served a 20-year sentence for raping a woman at knifepoint and for sexually assaulting another woman after beating her with a wrench.
While at SCC, Williams hooked up with at least four women – including recently divorced SCC nurse Barbara Boardman. Williams met Boardman while cleaning her office, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Miyake. Boardman “quickly developed feelings for [Williams] and the two began having a sexual relationship,” Miyake wrote in court pleadings.
Boardman also made pornographic videos for Williams with Justine A. Stephens, a woman Williams met over a telephone chat line that he frequently called while confined at SCC, according to Miyake. Stephens “made hundreds of pornographic videos for [Williams] which were smuggled into the SCC,” Miyake stated. Stephens knew Williams “was at the SCC but was being duped into believing that he was wrongly civilly committed.”
Boardman drained her savings, mortgaged her mother’s home and sold her belongings to give Williams $300,000 for “legal fees.” Instead, Williams used the money to buy Stephens a car and other expensive gifts.
When another SCC guard, Paepaega Matautia, Jr., confided in Williams that he had fallen behind on his mortgage because he made only $11 an hour, Williams offered an enticing solution: Matautia could smuggle crack cocaine and other contraband into SCC for $200 per package, according to court documents. Once Matautia agreed, Williams kept him in line by threatening to report him if he stopped making deliveries. [See: PLN, Oct. 2009, p.18].
It was Boardman who reported the scheme. With her assistance, FBI agents arrested Stephens and Matautia as they attempted to smuggle crack to Williams. Both then testified against Williams, and Stephens claimed that she had been trying to break free from Williams by repaying the gifts he had given her.
Boardman was arrested herself and then released on pretrial release. She was re-arrested in February 2010, however, for violating her pre-release conditions by communicating with Williams and giving him $750 through his family. She was released again but rearrested a second time in June 2010.
Matautia was sentenced to six months in federal prison while Stephens received probation. Boardman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor contraband charge and was sentenced to time served with one year supervised release on November 12, 2010.
Urging the court to impose a light sentence on Williams, his attorney quoted P.T. Barnum, arguing, “You can never cheat an honest man.” The court was not impressed, sentencing Williams to nine years in federal prison. “You are a master at it,” declared U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle, finding that Williams’ co-conspirators “would not have been involved except for [his] deception and manipulation.”
In an unrelated incident, following an investigation by the FBI, seven SCC residents were arrested on September 17, 2009 and charged with possession of child pornography; another had been arrested weeks earlier on the same charge. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, child porn has been found at SCC at least 16 times since 2004.
Residents at SCC had computer (but not Internet) access until March 2010, when the state legislature allowed staff to restrict residents’ computer use.
Of course, state authorities took no responsibility for the child porn found at the facility or the scandal involving Williams. “It shouldn’t be surprising that they might try to manipulate others,” said Thomas Shapley, public affairs director of the Department of Social and Health Services, which operates SCC. “These are people who have issues and problems. That’s why they’re there.”
PLN has previously reported on other problems at SCC, including contraband found at the facility, other inappropriate relationships involving staff members, an arson and an attempted escape. [See: PLN, May 2010, p.50; Oct. 2009, p.18].
Sources: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, U.S. Attorney’s Office press release
SCC opened in 1990 at the Monroe Correctional Complex, but later moved to McNeil Island. Approximately 1 percent of the state’s sex offenders – about 290 – are indefinitely confined at SCC under Washington’s civil commitment law.
In theory SCC is a treatment center and not a prison, though it operates as a secure facility and its residents are held under prison-like conditions. “It’s a de facto warehouse, regardless of what the intention is,” said Pete MacDonald, an attorney with The Defender Association, a Seattle-based criminal defense organization.
Lawrence A. Williams was committed to SCC in 2004 for sexual assault; he had previously served a 20-year sentence for raping a woman at knifepoint and for sexually assaulting another woman after beating her with a wrench.
While at SCC, Williams hooked up with at least four women – including recently divorced SCC nurse Barbara Boardman. Williams met Boardman while cleaning her office, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Miyake. Boardman “quickly developed feelings for [Williams] and the two began having a sexual relationship,” Miyake wrote in court pleadings.
Boardman also made pornographic videos for Williams with Justine A. Stephens, a woman Williams met over a telephone chat line that he frequently called while confined at SCC, according to Miyake. Stephens “made hundreds of pornographic videos for [Williams] which were smuggled into the SCC,” Miyake stated. Stephens knew Williams “was at the SCC but was being duped into believing that he was wrongly civilly committed.”
Boardman drained her savings, mortgaged her mother’s home and sold her belongings to give Williams $300,000 for “legal fees.” Instead, Williams used the money to buy Stephens a car and other expensive gifts.
When another SCC guard, Paepaega Matautia, Jr., confided in Williams that he had fallen behind on his mortgage because he made only $11 an hour, Williams offered an enticing solution: Matautia could smuggle crack cocaine and other contraband into SCC for $200 per package, according to court documents. Once Matautia agreed, Williams kept him in line by threatening to report him if he stopped making deliveries. [See: PLN, Oct. 2009, p.18].
It was Boardman who reported the scheme. With her assistance, FBI agents arrested Stephens and Matautia as they attempted to smuggle crack to Williams. Both then testified against Williams, and Stephens claimed that she had been trying to break free from Williams by repaying the gifts he had given her.
Boardman was arrested herself and then released on pretrial release. She was re-arrested in February 2010, however, for violating her pre-release conditions by communicating with Williams and giving him $750 through his family. She was released again but rearrested a second time in June 2010.
Matautia was sentenced to six months in federal prison while Stephens received probation. Boardman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor contraband charge and was sentenced to time served with one year supervised release on November 12, 2010.
Urging the court to impose a light sentence on Williams, his attorney quoted P.T. Barnum, arguing, “You can never cheat an honest man.” The court was not impressed, sentencing Williams to nine years in federal prison. “You are a master at it,” declared U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle, finding that Williams’ co-conspirators “would not have been involved except for [his] deception and manipulation.”
In an unrelated incident, following an investigation by the FBI, seven SCC residents were arrested on September 17, 2009 and charged with possession of child pornography; another had been arrested weeks earlier on the same charge. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, child porn has been found at SCC at least 16 times since 2004.
Residents at SCC had computer (but not Internet) access until March 2010, when the state legislature allowed staff to restrict residents’ computer use.
Of course, state authorities took no responsibility for the child porn found at the facility or the scandal involving Williams. “It shouldn’t be surprising that they might try to manipulate others,” said Thomas Shapley, public affairs director of the Department of Social and Health Services, which operates SCC. “These are people who have issues and problems. That’s why they’re there.”
PLN has previously reported on other problems at SCC, including contraband found at the facility, other inappropriate relationships involving staff members, an arson and an attempted escape. [See: PLN, May 2010, p.50; Oct. 2009, p.18].
Sources: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, U.S. Attorney’s Office press release
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