As Danford Grant pleads guilty, attorney uses ‘sex addiction’ to explain massage parlor rapes

Prominent Seattle attorney Danford Grant pleaded guilty to five rapes on Wednesday and will likely spend at least the next 15 years in prison for his crimes. But what changed in the final hours before trial to make him take a deal, and why was his attorney talking about sex addiction after he took the deal?

Based on the recommendation, it’s likely Grant will be sentenced to 25 years in prison at his sentencing on May 19. With good behavior, his sentence could be reduced to as little as 15 years, including the 18-months he spent under house arrest awaiting trial.

This plea deal came together in the final hours before trial – even though there had been a year and a half to work something out.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg gave his theory to KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don Show. “It was really the empaneling of the jury that made it real for him,” Satterberg said. “Once they see the jury that’s going to sit in judgment of them, all of a sudden, it becomes real. It becomes a sense of urgency.”

A lot of people still have questions as to why Grant’s wife, Jennifer, wasn’t prosecuted in this case, even after she moved her husband’s car from near the final rape crime scene. Satterberg said there wasn’t enough evidence that she was trying to hinder the police.

“We cannot prove that she removed any evidence from the car, and in fact, we found evidence in the car even after she had moved it,” he said. “She obviously shouldn’t have moved the car, but that in and of itself is not a crime.”

There are also questions about why the 49-year-old serial rapist was allowed to go home after pleading guilty. He will be under electronic home monitoring until his sentencing on May 19. It was the judge’s decision to allow him to remain on home monitoring, just like he was while awaiting trial.

Grant refused comment after his plea hearing. He has never given a reason for why he went on this violent crime spree.

His attorney, Richard Hansen, said he suffers from sex addiction, which he claims is a real disorder. “He has been struggling with depression and sex addiction,” he said. “It’s a very real illness.”

Satterberg doesn’t believe sex addiction is a real affliction. “It was a power-trip for him,” he said. “It’s all about power. It’s not about sex. You can’t really crawl into his head and figure out what he was trying to do.”

A lot of medical experts claim sex addiction is real. Plenty of others believe it is just an excuse for when powerful people get in trouble for their bad behavior.

It is not recognized as a real disorder in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM5,) which lists all mental illnesses compiled by the American Psychiatric Association.