11/21/2008

Associated Press

The state Supreme Court says a convicted child molester can be permanently banned from contacting his wife, even thought the woman was not a direct victim of his crimes.

Thursday's ruling was spurred by the case of Richard H. Warren. He was convicted of child molestation and child rape against two stepdaughters, in two separate King County Superior Court trials in 2003.

As part of Warren's sentence, he was ordered to have no contact with the girls' mother for life. Warren argued this was an unconstitutional violation of his marriage rights.

But the court disagreed, voting 8-1 to uphold the condition. The court says, in this case, keeping Warren away from the girls' mother is sufficiently related to the crime.