Thurston County activist to serve jail time for domestic assault
Robert Kavanaugh, longtime citizen activist in Thurston County, was sentenced to three months in jail last week after he pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree assault/domestic violence in Thurston County Superior Court.
Kavanaugh, 82, was accused of pointing a gun at his son and threatening to kill him.
Kavanaugh’s three-month sentence, which the defense and prosecuting attorneys recommended jointly, was on the low end of the standard range for such a charge.
“This is an appropriate sentence, notwithstanding the concerns raised by the victim and victim’s family that the court has reviewed and considered,” Judge James Dixon said Friday. “And I’ll conclude by saying this: I know this is your first time through this system. It’s going to be your last time through the system. I’m very confident of that.”
According to a prosecutor’s statement of probable cause:
Kavanaugh’s son told Sheriff’s deputies Kavanaugh is a Vietnam War veteran who has mental health issues that were getting worse. He said Kavanaugh had been “very abusive” to his wife and had multiple weapons and ammunition.
The son told deputies he went to his parents’ house Oct. 25 to “tell his mother they had contacted DSHS adult protective services for resources to get her out of the house and away from Robert.”
The son thought his father had heard him talking to his mother. Kavanaugh yelled at him, pointed a shotgun at him and threatened to kill him if he didn’t leave, according to the son’s version of events.
Kavanaugh’s wife told deputies she was scared he would eventually kill her, and said he would manipulate people to make himself look like the good guy.
“He could murder someone and make the good guy take the fall,” she told deputies.
His room had guns, swords, and other weapons hanging on “every inch of the walls,” the statement reads.
Kavanaugh himself denied threatening to kill anyone. He had no previous known criminal convictions, according to court records.
Prosecutors also had charged Kavanaugh with felony harassment/domestic violence. That charge was dismissed Friday as part of a plea agreement.
Kavanaugh entered an Alford plea to the assault charge, which means he believes he’s innocent but decided to take advantage of a plea bargain offer or believes there’s a substantial likelihood he may have been convicted at trial.
In addition to three months in jail, Kavanaugh was sentenced to time in community custody, according to court documents. He’s also required to pay legal fees, commit no criminal law violations, own no firearms, comply with protection orders, and go through a mental health evaluation and complete recommended follow-up treatment.
The conviction is a “strike” offense, meaning it counts toward Washington’s “three strikes” law under which a third serious offense carries a mandatory sentence of life without parole.
There’s currently a no-contact order in place for his son and a vulnerable adult protection order in place for his wife.
On Friday, Kavanaugh’s defense attorney Alex Frix listed myriad health conditions Kavanaugh currently faces or has faced, including “severe diabetes,” several types of cancer, and skin conditions resulting from Agent Orange exposure.
Frix noted that he’s at risk of dying in jail and of “being a great expense to the community to care for while he’s in custody.” And, due to his age and frailty, Frix said he doesn’t believe Kavanaugh “poses a substantial danger” to the community.
If he were to go to trial and win within a speedy trial time, Frix said he’d be released about two weeks later than he will be now.
“He and I are honestly concerned that that is two weeks in custody that he might not survive,” Frix said.
Considering time served, his release date will be Dec. 24, according to his Frix, who confirmed Kavanaugh plans to move to Oregon to live with another son.
Kavanaugh is known in Thurston County for his citizen activism — particularly when it comes to environmental issues.
On Friday, Kavanaugh read in court a sonnet he wrote, dedicated to the nursing staff at the Thurston County Jail. In it, he thanked them for their kindness and caring in “his darkest hours.”
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