In re Pers. Restraint of Arnold

¶1 Eddie Dean Arnold challenges his conviction for failure to register as a sex offender, in violation of RCW 9A.44.130. He argues-and the Court of Appeals agreed-that he was not required to register because his 1988 conviction of statutory rape in violation of a statute amended in 1979, was not a "sex offense" within the meaning of the current sex offender registration statute. We disagree. The prior sex offense of which Arnold was convicted meets the two critical prerequisites to a countable "sex offense" listed in former RCW 9.94A.030(46)(b) (2012): (1) that prior conviction was based on a…