David McCuistion biography: 13 things about Spokane Valley, Washington man

David William McCuistion, also known as James A. Ashcraft, is an American man from Spokane Valley, Spokane County, Washington, United States. He is a sexually violent predator who victimized not only adult female strangers but also a girl aged 5.

Who is David McCuistion?

Aside from Spokane Valley, McCuistion has lived in other parts of Washington including Graham, Monroe and Spokane. Between 1980 and 1993, he was convicted of several sex-related offenses, including second-degree assault, third-degree assault, third-degree rape, attempted indecent liberties and phone harassment. 

From April 1993 to October 1998, McCuistion was constantly incarcerated. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. On July 23, 1980, he was accused of sexually touching two girls, then 8 and 5, and masturbating over the beds of one of the girls. He received a five-year deferred sentence after pleading guilty to attempted indecent liberties.
2. In 1983, he was accused of attacking a woman in a Safeway parking lot, charged with second-degree assault with intent to commit rape and pleaded guilty to third-degree assault. His deferred sentence was revoked.
3. In June 1987, he was sentenced to serve a year in jail after being charged and convicted of telephone harassment.
4. On February 4, 1988, he assaulted a woman by choking her until her son, then 10, interrupted him. In March 1988, he pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and received six months in jail. In 1989, he tried to kidnap a girl, then 15. He pleaded guilty and was sent to prison.
5. In October 1992, he was released from prison.
6. On April 25, 1993, he picked up a female hitchhiker in Clark County, Washington and they consumed alcohol at a bar and then at a park where he attacked and raped her. On May 25, 1993, he was convicted of third-degree assault and third-degree rape. After pleading guilty to third-degree rape, he was given an exceptional sentence of 90 months and booked into the McNeil Island Corrections Center on McNeil Island in Puget Sourt, Pierce County, Washington. On November 19, 1993, he was convicted of third-degree rape.
7. On October 15, 1998, the Pierce County prosecutor petitioned to commit him as a sexually violent predator. Two weeks later, the court found probable cause and ordered that he be held at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island. In November 1998, he moved for an expert at public expense and the court appointed a doctor. In December 1998, he moved for an additional expert at public expense and the court appointed another doctor. In December 1999, he indicated that he would not call neither doctor and asked the court to appoint a third expert, which he later dismissed before trial. On July 21, 2003, he asked the court to appoint yet a fourth expert at public expense, which was denied.
8. On October 3, 2003, he was found to have satisfied the criteria for commitment as a SVP and was committed indefinitely to the care and custody of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS).
9. In 2005, Dr. Carla van Dam, PhD concluded that he continued to meet the definition of a SVP and that conditional release to an LRA would threaten community safety. On October 27, 2006, a trial court held a show cause hearing to determine whether he was entitled to a full evidentiary hearing concerning his eligibility for unconditional release or conditional release to a less restrictive alternative (LRA). 
10. On January 3, 2008, he filed a petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. On February 25, 2008, the petition was denied.
11. On May 3, 2012, the Supreme Court of Washington decided that because he did not present prima facie evidence that his condition had changed such that he no longer met the criteria for confinement, he had neither a statutory nor a constitutional right to an evidentiary hearing.
12. In October 2016, Pierce County Superior Court Judge James R. Orlando granted his release, allowing him to travel to and reside in Spokane against the objections of the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services and the Washington State Department of Corrections as an LRA.
13. He was 63 years old when the U.S. Marshals Service arrested him in September 2024 for failure to register as a sex offender.