A child molester with a criminal history dating back more than three decades is slated to be released from prison next week, but efforts are underway to have him indefinitely detained under Arizona’s civil sexually violent person law.
Court records show James Scott Sikorski had engaged in sexual misconduct with young children well before being placed in a juvenile treatment program as a 16-year-old in 1990. His first felony conviction involved a 1993 molestation incident while his last came after a 2013 arrest when Sikorski was accused of molesting multiple children, including a three-year-old girl whose hands and mouth had been taped.
Sikorski, 48, is slated to be released from prison on March 25 to begin lifetime intensive sex offender probation. But Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre filed a petition March 7 for court approval to civilly detain Sikorski at the Arizona Community Protection and Treatment Center, which is part of the Arizona State Hospital.
The petition asks Judge Jason Lindstrom of the Cochise County Superior Court to find probable cause exists under Arizona Revised Statutes, Title 36 involving public health and safety that Sikorski presently suffers from a mental disorder that makes him likely to engage in acts of sexual violence.
In support of the petition, Deputy County Attorney Kris Carlson refers to a January 2022 report authored by Brittany Brown, Psy. D., which notes Sikorski currently receives medication for depression and psychosis. Brown lists Sikorski’s diagnosis as Pedophilic Disorder, Unspecified Anxiety Disorder, Unspecified Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Disorder, and Unspecified Depressive Disorder.
Court records show Sikorski, whose birth name was James Scott Wilson, was physically and sexually abused by a family member and another man at least through age 10. The report details numerous other sexual misconduct incidents before Sikorski, then 19, was convicted of molesting an 8-year-old boy in 1993.
As early as 2004, psychiatric professionals deemed Sikorski “predisposed” to pedophilia, according to Brown’s report attached to the petition. Brown concluded Sikorski has “serious difficulty controlling his behavior” due to a mental disorder. As a result, Sikorski is predisposed “to commit sexual acts to such a degree as to render him a danger to the health and safety of others,” according to the petition.
Sikorski was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 1993 molestation, although the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) approved Sikorski’s early release from custody in March 2004. Two years later he was returned to prison to complete the full 15-year sentence along with a concurrent 2.5 years for violating Arizona’s sex offender registration law.
ADC released Sikorski in April 2009 after he completed his sentences. Public records show he was living in Sierra Vista in April 2011 but eventually changed residences without notifying the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office as required.
In August 2013, Sikorski was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, failure to register an address change, and suspicion of molesting three children, ages three through seven. He was sentenced to 10 years for the drug and the failure to register convictions, to be followed by intensive lifetime probation for two of the sex crimes.
With Sikorski’s release date approaching, ADC asked Brown in late 2021 to conduct a screening evaluation of whether the inmate meets the criteria under Arizona law for a designation as a sexually violent person. Her report, which was then referred to the Cochise County Attorney’s Office, noted “there is sufficient evidence to support that Mr. Sikorski meets the full criteria as outlined by the Arizona Revised Statute (ARS).”
Lindstrom is expected to consider the petition early next week.
