Today a Humboldt County jury classified Scott Dean Eden, who spent time in and out of prison for two different sexually motivated crimes, as a sexually violent predator under the Sexually Violent Predator Act.

According to the Humboldt County District Attorney's press release, in 1990 Eden was found guilty of abducting a woman from a Eureka grocery store with the intent to commit rape and he served a five-year prison sentence. Then in 2003, Eden was convicted of two counts of spousal rape and one count of forcible sexual penetration with a foreign object, for which he served a 16-year prison sentence.

District Attorney Maggie Flemming filed a petition to classify Eden as a sexually violent predator under the SVP Act, after which a jury determines if the allegation is true.

Now that Eden has been classified as a sexually violent predator, he will be committed to the California State Department of State Hospitals for appropriate treatment and confinement in a secure facility until a judge concludes he no longer fits the sexually violent predator criteria.

Read the full press release below:

May 28, 2021

A Humboldt County jury today unanimously concluded that SCOTT DEAN EDEN is a sexually violent predator within the meaning of the Sexually Predator Act (SVPA).
In 1990, Eden assaulted a woman with the intent to commit rape after he abducted her at gunpoint from the parking lot of a Eureka grocery store. The woman was able to escape from Eden; he received a 5-year prison sentence for those crimes. In 2003, Eden was convicted of additional sexually violent offenses: two counts of spousal rape and one count of forcible sexual penetration with a foreign object. He received a 16-year prison sentence for those crimes.

Prior to his release from state prison, District Attorney Maggie Fleming filed a petition alleging Eden to be a sexually violent predator within the meaning of SVPA, which created the requirement for a jury to find the allegation true, which was made today. Assistant District Attorney Stacey Eads prosecuted the case, which included expert testimony from forensic psychologists Bruce Yanofsky, PhD, and Christopher Matosich, PhD, regarding Eden’s mental health disorder that predisposes him to commit sexually violent offenses and the substantial danger he poses if released untreated into the community. Diana Freese, retired Humboldt County Sheriff’s Sergeant Detective, provided testimony concerning her interview of Eden in 2002. Deputy Public Defender Wade Orbelian represented Eden and presented testimony by Brian Abbott, PhD. Judge Robert F. Cochran presided over the trial. The jury’s finding today means that Eden will be committed to the California State Department of State Hospitals for appropriate treatment and confinement in a secure facility until a judge concludes that he no longer fits the sexually violent predator criteria.

Editor's note: The Journal incorrectly identified the grand jury as the jury that classified Scott Eden as a sexually violent predator. The classification was a result of a jury trial. The Journal regrets the error.