Special Commitment Center employee tasked with rehabilitating sexual predators accused of raping 14-year-old girl

A state worker employed to help rehabilitate sexually violent predators was charged Thursday with the rape of a 14-year-old girl, about a month after he got $63,000 from the state for alleging he was sexually harassed on the job.

Xavier Dominick McGriff, 30, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment to five counts of third-degree child rape and one count of first-degree possession of child pornography.

Pierce County Court Commissioner Meagan Foley set bail at $100,000.

Prosecutors allege McGriff, an employee at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, had sex with the girl multiple times during her visits to his Pierce County home from May until mid-October.

They also alleged he took nude photos of the teen and a video of them having sex.

According to charging papers:

The girl’s mother recently learned about the sex, and contacted the Sheriff’s Department. The girl, now 15, told investigators McGriff gave her chlamydia at least once, and possibly twice.

McGriff started out winking and sitting close to the girl, then they started kissing, and that led to sex, the teen said.

McGriff has worked since 2010 at the SCC, which houses the state’s sexually violent predators who have finished their prison sentences, but are deemed too high a risk to be released, state Department of Social and Health Services spokesman Chris Wright said Thursday.

“We are beginning the process of terminating him,” Wright said.

In light of the charges, the Washington State Patrol will do an internal investigation into whether McGriff engaged in misconduct at the SCC, Wright said.

McGriff is a residential rehabilitation counselor 2, which according to a job posting on governmentjobs.com requires: “effective management of treatment strategies, proactive interventions and monitoring of patient behavior.

“Each member of the team contributes to the rehabilitation of individuals who have been committed by the courts to the care of DSHS.”

A News Tribune database of state employee salaries, compiled through public records, lists McGriff on the DSHS payroll with a salary of $53,100 in 2015.

He sued the state in October 2015, alleging a co-worker made sexual advances and inappropriately touched him, and that supervisors ignored the behavior when he reported it.

He also alleged the co-worker falsely accused him of sexually harassing her, and that she convinced another SCC employee (who later recanted, according to the lawsuit) to make similar accusations.

The state agreed to settle the suit by paying McGriff $63,000 in September.

Court records do not list an attorney for him regarding the criminal charges.

This story was originally published November 4, 2016 at 8:58 AM with the headline "Special Commitment Center employee tasked with rehabilitating sexual predators accused of raping 14-year-old girl."