State wants to lock up man as sexual predator

A Spokane County jury began hearing testimony Thursday to decide whether a 35-year-old sex offender should be locked up for crimes he might commit in the future.

The state Attorney General’s Office says Charles Sean Tillman needs to be in custody or under supervision for the rest of his life because he is a sexually violent predator.

Tillman says he likes to expose himself to elderly women because they show more shock than younger women and are less likely to report him.

“I do it for surprise,” Tillman testified Thursday. “It’s exhilarating to me.”

Tillman did more than surprise a 78-year-old Spokane woman in September 1992, when he broke into her home and forced her to masturbate him. At the time, he was 23 and a recent Mead High School graduate.

The woman, now deceased, told authorities that Tillman first fondled her, tried to rip off her nightgown and attempted to rape her in various ways. Afterward, she said, he demanded money.

Tillman testified Thursday that he was sexually aroused by the woman’s fear. He disputed some of the victim’s allegations, but admitted he told her, “Do this or I’ll kill you.”

In addition to residential burglary, Tillman pleaded guilty in that case to indecent liberties with forcible compulsion. Taking indecent liberties by force is a sexually violent offense, one of several requirements under state law for locking up sexually violent predators as though they were insane.

Other requirements for a civil commitment of a sex predator include evidence of mental or personality disorders, and evidence of a recent offense.

Experts are expected to present conflicting testimony about Tillman’s mental condition. Tacoma resident Tara Shane and Tacoma Police Detective Brad Graham testified Thursday that Tillman’s recent offense involved stalking two 11-year-old girls, including Shane’s daughter, as they walked home from school in December 1999. Tillman, who was not charged with a crime in the case, denies stalking the girls.

Also in Tacoma, Tillman was accused but not charged in two flashing incidents in June 2001. And, in July 2001, Tillman admitted Thursday, he exposed himself to a 75-year-old woman.

The civil commitment procedure for sex predators is unusual. Tillman’s case is only the second in Spokane County in the past two years.

The procedure is likely to become even more unusual because of a relatively new law that automatically places defendants under state control for the rest of their lives when they are convicted of violent sex crimes.

Tillman’s attorney, Tim Trageser, pointed out to the jury during his opening statement that Tillman has only one conviction for a sexually violent offense.

Assistant Attorneys General Malcolm Ross and Krista Bush countered that Tillman’s other convictions – including burglaries, attempted burglaries and malicious mischief – were sexually motivated crimes.

According to court documents, Tillman was convicted of lewdness and a nuisance violation in December 1990 in Spokane County. Then, in March 1991, he was convicted of residential burglary and malicious mischief for breaking a 69-year-old woman’s window when she refused to let him in her house about 4:30 a.m.

Tillman testified Thursday that he had come home drunk and thought his girlfriend had locked him out. When he realized he was at the wrong house, Tillman said, he ran to his own home next door and hid in the attic until police got a warrant and found him.

Police caught Tillman in the 1992 indecent liberties case involving the 78-year-old woman when they checked similar complaints and found one 12 days earlier in which a witness got Tillman’s vehicle license number. In that earlier incident, Tillman pleaded guilty to attempted residential burglary at another 78-year-old woman’s home.

He insisted Thursday that, despite his guilty plea, he merely knocked on the woman’s door with the intention of exposing himself to her. He denied trying to force her screen door open when she failed to come to the door.

Also in September 1992, just a few days after the indecent liberties incident, Tillman’s fingerprints were found on a basement window frame at a 70-year-old woman’s home. A storm window had been removed, authorities said.

Four days later, Tillman testified Thursday, he went to a 58-year-old woman’s door to expose himself. He said he opened her screen door and startled the woman, causing her to fall backward.

Tillman said he grabbed her to prevent her from falling down, not to push her to the floor as she said. He denied getting on top of her and trying to open her robe, as she told police.

Within an hour of that incident, Tillman approached an 80-year-old woman as she was getting into her car. He asked her for a glass of water and followed her into her home, where he also asked to use her telephone.

“She was apprehensive for good reason,” Tillman testified Thursday, contending however that he grabbed her only because she moved toward him while ordering him to leave.

He said she slapped his face, and he fled, fearing further physical confrontation.

In pretrial motions, Trageser persuaded Superior Court Judge Jerome Leveque to prevent the jury from hearing testimony that Tillman told a co-worker he wanted to rob banks and become a serial killer.

Tillman’s trial is to continue Monday.