So far, the community seems to be of two minds on Kevin Coe. One of them, all heart. The other, all reason.

One side, understandably, shudders with fear. The other, also valid, stands on principle. The resulting argument goes like this: “Lock him up and throw away the key.” Or the converse: “He’s done his time, it’s only fair that he go free.”

Fortunately for this community, and any other that Coe may choose to inhabit, a third way has emerged.

It was created by Washington’s 1990 Community Protection Act. Since Coe’s prison sentence began 25 years ago, our understanding about the nature of sexual offenders and the importance of protecting our community has greatly evolved.

That law allows Coe’s case to move from the criminal arena to the civil. He’s scheduled to undergo a trial that will be focused on his mental illness. A jury will hear testimony from mental health experts from both sides. It will decide whether he should remain a resident of McNeil Island’s new Special Commitment Center until he’s been successfully treated.

It’s understandable that women who believe they were his victims, as well as many others who have long lived in this region, fear his release. He was convicted of one rape, yet the state’s forensic psychologist believes he committed 53. Women reported that he brutally grabbed them from the back, forced their faces into the ground and threatened to stab or kill them if they dared to look at him.

It’s also understandable that others argue on principle. We shouldn’t keep people locked up for crimes they haven’t committed, goes that argument. Coe’s a worst-case example, but the same rule should apply to everyone.

Thanks to the Community Protection Act, however, Coe now can be evaluated not only as a criminal but also as a person with a dangerous mental illness. This law was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2001.

We now know more about the wide diversity of sex offenders. Some display relatively mild abnormalities and have the capacity for guilt, empathy and learning from their mistakes. Like alcoholics learning to avoid martini lounges, through treatment they find ways to avoid the circumstances that might tempt them to reoffend.

Others, however, fall at the opposite end of the spectrum. They’re the sexually violent predators who combine a severe mental illness, such as a psychopathic personality disorder, with severe sexual abnormalities, such as becoming aroused by violence. In the worst of these cases, the men won’t admit guilt; they have a cold, bloodless contempt for their victims, and they refuse all treatment.

Does the state’s psychologist believe Coe fits that definition? Absolutely. She ranks his likelihood of re-offending at medium-high to high. New DNA evidence appears to give further proof he’s been lying about his innocence all these years.

We’re fortunate we now have a process for addressing both the community’s legitimate thoughts and fears. We dare not divorce one from the other.

Where a man’s life and a community’s safety are concerned, all reason with no heart looms as dangerous as the opposite.