Court Records Show How a Convicted Rapist Won Unconditional Release From McNeil Island

A 66-year-old man convicted of first-degree rape and first-degree attempted murder has been unconditionally released from civil commitment after the State of Washington conceded it could no longer prove he meets the legal definition of a sexually violent predator, according to King County Superior Court records reviewed by The Olympic Herald.

King County Superior Court Judge E. Rania Rampersad signed the order releasing Robert Eugene Lough on July 8, dismissing the civil commitment petition the State first filed in 2009 and striking a trial that had been set for October 19. 

The state sex offender registry lists Lough's release date as July 9 and shows him registered as a Level III offender in an Enumclaw address in King County.

The hearing that ended nearly 17 years of civil confinement lasted less than 40 minutes.

According to the clerk's minutes, the matter was heard at the Maleng Regional Justice Center on the morning of July 8, beginning at 10:05 a.m. and concluding at 10:44 a.m., with Lough and his attorney, Sonja Hardenbrook, appearing by Zoom. 

Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Charles Sergis and Anela Ramic appeared for the State.

The matter came on as Lough's motion for summary judgment, but the court instead took up the State's motion to dismiss, which the release order states Lough joined, and granted it.

The release order lays out how the case collapsed. 

The State petitioned in August 2009 to have Lough civilly committed as a sexually violent predator under RCW 71.09, relying on a forensic psychological report by Dr. Richard Packard.

Lough was held at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island pending trial, and in February 2015 a jury found him to be a sexually violent predator. He was committed indefinitely.

State law entitles committed residents to an annual review. During the 2025 review, Dr. Elizabeth Bain opined that Lough no longer met the criteria, and the commitment center's chief executive at the time, Keith DeVos, authorized him to petition for an unconditional release trial.

The State then hired its own evaluator, Dr. Marianne Davis, who reviewed Lough's records, interviewed him for several hours on May 27, and submitted her report on June 1. 

She diagnosed Lough with a personality disorder but found it did not rise to the level of a mental abnormality required by the statute, concluding he no longer meets the criteria of a sexually violent predator.

Her opinion carried pointed caveats. Davis stressed that the evaluation answered only two narrow questions about the risk of future predatory sexually violent offenses, and did not address non-sexual violence or lesser sex offenses. 

Citing a long history of violence that included an assault in 2024 and a threat against a staff member in 2025, she wrote it would not be surprising if Lough "engaged in future acts of non-sexual violence" after release.

Based on that evaluation, the order states, both sides concluded the State could not carry its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Lough still qualifies for commitment, and the case could not proceed to trial.

Because the release is unconditional, Lough is not subject to community custody obligations, the order states. He must, however, register as a sex offender based on his 1986 first-degree rape conviction. 

The registration notice attached to the order requires him to register with the sheriff of the county where he lives within three business days of release, to report any change of address, and warns that noncompliance is a crime. 

The State cautioned in the order that it will review Lough for possible refiling of the petition should he commit a qualifying recent overt act, even one that does not result in a conviction.

The King County Sheriff's Office announced on Facebook that it will hold a virtual community meeting about the release on Thursday, July 23, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., and said it will provide a meeting link this week.