## Facts

- Randle Porter Cooke had three prior convictions for sexual offenses against minors.
- Cooke committed all three offenses while paralyzed from the waist down.
- After Cooke was released following the third offense, federal agents found over 100 images of child pornography on his computer.
- Cooke pleaded guilty to possession and receipt of child pornography and received an 87-month federal prison sentence.
- Shortly before Cooke’s projected release, the government filed a petition under the Adam Walsh Act (18 U.S.C. § 4248) seeking to civilly commit him as a sexually dangerous person; Cooke’s release was stayed pending a hearing.
- At the evidentiary hearing, the government presented evidence that Cooke refused to participate in sex-offender treatment while incarcerated.
- The government also presented evidence that Cooke engaged in a relationship in prison with a “troubled” 22-year-old fellow sex offender.
- Government psychological witnesses testified that Cooke suffered from hebephilia (sexual attraction to adolescents) and that he was highly likely to reoffend if released.
- Cooke testified that his plan upon release was to live with his mother and “possibly” seek counseling.
- Cooke minimized or denied parts of his prior sexually abusive behavior.
- Cooke’s psychological witness testified that hebephilia was not a diagnosable mental illness and that Cooke’s paralysis reduced the likelihood that he would reoffend.
- The district court credited the government’s evidence, found Cooke to be a sexually dangerous person under § 4248, and ordered civil commitment.
- Cooke appealed, arguing the government failed to prove he met the statutory criteria for commitment.

## Issues

1. Whether the government proved by clear and convincing evidence that Cooke suffered from a “serious mental illness, abnormality, or disorder” under 18 U.S.C. § 4248.
2. Whether the government proved by clear and convincing evidence that, as a result of that condition, Cooke would have serious difficulty refraining from sexually violent conduct or child molestation if released, given his paralysis and competing psychological testimony.

## Decision

- The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s civil-commitment order.
- The court held that the district court did not clearly err in crediting the government’s psychological testimony and concluding that Cooke met the definition of a sexually dangerous person under § 4248.

## Legal Principles

- Under 18 U.S.C. § 4248, the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the person (1) previously engaged in or attempted sexually violent conduct or child molestation, (2) currently suffers from a serious mental illness, abnormality, or disorder, and (3) because of that condition would have serious difficulty refraining from sexually violent conduct or child molestation if released.
- In § 4248 cases, appellate review gives strong deference to district-court factfinding, including the choice between competing psychological testimony; reversal is warranted only for clear error.
- A district court may treat a diagnosed condition such as hebephilia as satisfying § 4248’s serious-condition requirement when credited testimony shows it is linked to sexual interest in minors and impaired self-control.
- A physical limitation such as paraplegia is relevant to risk, but it does not bar commitment when the record supports continued risk and the person has offended while disabled.
- Evidence bearing on future risk includes refusal of treatment, minimization or denial of past abuse, conduct while incarcerated, and the absence of a concrete, structured release plan.

## Conclusion

The Fourth Circuit upheld Cooke’s civil commitment under § 4248, concluding that the district court permissibly credited the government’s evidence that Cooke suffered from hebephilia and, despite his paralysis, would have serious difficulty refraining from child molestation if released, as shown by his offending history, treatment refusal, prison conduct, and limited release plan.


United States v. Cooke, 565 Fed. Appx. 193 (2014)