Sex Offender Sentenced to 8+ Years in Prison for Failing to Register

            A violent sex offender who failed to register as required by law was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 99 months in prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  TIMOTHY G. DORAN, 48, of Seattle was arrested in December 2011.  DORAN pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender in September 2012.  However, over the last two years prosecutors presented evidence tying DORAN to the murder of a woman in Vietnam.  U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik ruled prosecutors had proven DORAN guilty of the murder by clear and convincing evidence, thus making the murder something he could consider at sentencing.  Today Judge Lasnik noted DORAN had a history of “multiple instances of violence and depravity against women he claimed to love and cherish…He is a clear and present danger to any woman he establishes a relationship with…. He is a serial domestic abuser.”

            “This case demonstrates our commitment to working with our law enforcement partners around the world to ensure justice is done,” said Acting United States Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  “Working with law enforcement in Vietnam, bringing witnesses to court here in Seattle, our prosecutors made sure all the relevant facts could be considered by the court to hold this defendant accountable.”

            According to records filed in the case, DORAN has a lengthy history of violence against women, including rape and assaults.  In 1990 he was convicted of breaking his wife’s ankle and using a knife to make a cut across her neck.  In 1992 DORAN raped and brutally beat his ex-girlfriend, leaving her and her children to die in a home filling with natural gas.  He was sentenced to more than seven years in prison and was required to register as a sex offender.  Following his release from prison for that crime, his new girlfriend sought a protective order because he threatened her with knives.

            In mid-2010, DORAN moved to Vietnam without updating his sex offender registration.  DORAN became involved with a young woman in Vietnam and in the early morning hours of March 6, 2011, he strangled her and left her body hidden in a closet in the home.  Within days DORAN fled Vietnam and returned to the U.S.  He traveled between various states, again failing to register as a sex offender.  Following his arrest, U.S. prosecutors worked with law enforcement in Vietnam to obtain and present evidence tying DORAN to the murder.

            DORAN will be on five years of supervised release following his prison term.

            The case was investigated by the U.S. Marshal’s Service.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew Friedman, Jerrod Patterson and Brian Werner.