A judge ruled Wednesday that a former Buckley city councilman convicted of child rape can be released from jail for six months to be treated for throat cancer.
Randy Reed, 55, was sentenced in October to spend a year in the Pierce County Jail after being convicted of first-degree child rape and indecent liberties. He sexually assaulted the 7-year-old daughter of a woman he knew and also molested two teenage girls.
Reed recently discovered he has throat cancer, prompting attorney Matthew Wareham to file a motion requesting his client’s early release.
“In this case, keeping Mr. Reed incarcerated may pose a large burden on jail resources, be deemed nearly cruel and unusual punishment because if he is continued to be incarcerated he will not have proper access to medical care that he needs and this could be a death sentence for him,” Wareham wrote in the motion.
After hearing from medical professionals, as well as a mother of one of the victims, Superior Court Judge Ronald Culpepper chose to release Reed for six months to receive and recover from chemotherapy and radiation.
Reed then will serve the remaining six months of the year he’s required to spend in the Pierce County Jail. The remainder of his 10-year, 11-month sentence was suspended originally, but he will be required to register as a sex offender and be on life-long probation.
Prosecutors deferred to the judge on the decision, and agreed that a temporary release was a better option than cutting short Reed’s sentence, Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said.
One of the attorney’s arguments was that Reed will not be given proper medical treatment in the jail, and the county would have to pay “great cost” to either house him in an assisted-living facility or post around-the-clock guards outside his hospital room.
Reed will need radiation, chemotherapy, a feeding tube and high doses of pain medication, according to court documents.
“Introducing such drugs into the jail may result in the diversion of the drugs, which would further jeopardize the interest of justice in the other inmate’s case,” Wareham said in the motion. “It could also place Mr. Reed in danger should another inmate threaten him to divert his pain medication to them.”
In exchange for being released, Reed agreed to register as a sex offender and tell the state Department of Corrections where he is living, keep authorities up to date on his medical treatment, and maintain contact with his attorney.
Reed resigned from the council Sept. 12 after serving for 18 years.
His son, Travis Reed, pleaded guilty to tampering with a witness in the rape case against his father. The younger Reed admitted sending a text message to the victim’s mother, offering money if she would drop the charges. Travis Reed was sentenced to six months of community custody and ordered not to have contact with the victim.
Stacia Glenn: 253-597-8653
stacia.glenn@thenewstribune.com
Staff writer Alexis Krell contributed to this story.
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