A Sonoma County jury Thursday declared a 65-year-old convicted child molester a sexually violent predator and committed him to a state mental institution, possibly for the rest of his life.
Jurors deliberated about two hours before returning with the verdict against Lawrence Rudy Kirk, who had convictions dating back to the late 1970s.
It was Kirk's third bid for freedom since being committed in 1997 to Atascadero and later Coalinga state hospitals. His incarceration was reviewed every two years but new state laws since his last attempt to get out make the new commitment indefinite.
Kirk's first conviction was in 1978 after he molested an 8-year-old Sonoma County girl, infecting her with gonorrhea. He went to Patton State Hospital for four years, but was convicted of molesting a 12-year-old girl two years after his release. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison but was paroled after two.
He struck again in 1989, this time molesting a 13-year-old girl whose mother he met at traffic school. Kirk got 29 years in prison, but the sentence was reduced on appeal to a 15-year term. He was released in 1997 but was picked up for a parole violation and subsequently held under the violent predator law.
He has been recommitted twice since his last conviction on grounds that he was violent and suffered a mental disorder.
At his trial, which began about two weeks ago, a psychological test on Kirk determined there was a 25 percent chance he would re-offend within five years if he is released.
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