Though many Americans are self-proclaimed true crime buffs, it’s very different when incidents happen close to home. Or worse, impact our very own families. Local author Sylvia Peterson is a sexual abuse survivor who wanted to discover what drives sexually violent predators to their crimes and if they can ever be truly rehabilitated. After publishing a book on the subject, Peterson was approached by local documentary filmmaker Troy Kirby as he was making “The House.” This award-winning film addresses sexual predators in Washington communities, especially surrounding a proposed group living situation in nearby Tenino. Kirby will be screening the film on Friday, March 28, 2025, at the Capital Campus Columbia Screening Room with Peterson on hand to answer questions and sign autographs of her book.
Don’t Miss ‘The House’ Documentary, Author Q&A and Book Signing on March 28
For many years, chaplain Sylvia Peterson met with Laura Faye McCollum, the only woman held in Washington State as a violent, serial, sexual predator. Peterson wanted to learn the why’s and how’s behind sexual predation, especially involving children. She also wanted to discover if our current system changed the likelihood that prisoners would reoffend if released.
These interviews became her book “Laura & Me” and helped Peterson address the abuse she herself had suffered as a child at the hands of a trusted family member.
“Laura and I talked over nine years,” explains Peterson, “and the book shows what life is like inside a Special Commitment Center as well as provides a personal story about the effects of molestation on a person’s life. It’s my belief that we must work to change our culture. Our society is making sexual predators faster than we can deal with them but I want people inflamed enough to use their money and political support to change underlying factors like sexualization in advertising and the over-prevalence of pornography.”
Peterson will be adding three additional chapters to a forthcoming re-release of “Laura & Me.” These discuss McCollum’s later years of release, reoffence and reincarceration.
How ‘The House’ Impacted Nearby Tenino Neighborhoods
Filmmaker Troy Kirby is also a full-time School of Business instructor at Saint Martin’s University. He explains that “The House” focuses on the arrival of a private adult group home for sexually violent predators (SVP) in Tenino as a way to study the background of our SVP and for-profit prison crises.
“This film examines the state of Washington’s 1990 Community Protection Act,” says Kirby, “which has since affected 28 state laws on civil commitment and secured an 8-1 U.S. Supreme Court decision. These all spark from the 1988 murder of a young woman by a sexual psychopath on unmonitored state supervision that sparked a movement of alarmed parents across the state. It also looks at the 2004 fight to end the state’s Talk & Walk practice of giving first-time child molesters a maximum of six months in jail, along with the dumping ground of sexually violent predators in Spokane, Washington, where some of the most incurable deviants include the state’s sole female sexually violent predator, Laura McCollum.”
Community Activism from Tenino Residents and Families
Rachel Grayless finds “The House” both eye-opening and thought provoking. Especially since she and her family lived through events firsthand as a Tenino resident at the time of the housing controversy. She became involved initially as a concerned parent, wanting to know more about this new SVP residence site.
After extensive personal research, Grayless acknowledges that this “is an exceptionally difficult topic, but failing to build better programs will only harm our future selves and loved ones. Troy’s documentary highlights communities who spoke up, but the reality is that this is all of our backyard. My hope is that this documentary can encourage citizens to get informed and to seek balanced policies for safe commitment and releases.”
Tickets to the March 28 showing are $20 and available online. With admission, you’ll receive a complementary copy of “Laura & Me” and Sylvia Peterson is happy to answer questions during the Q&A session or autograph your copy afterwards.
Doors open at 6 p.m., the screening begins at 6:30 p.m. and the Q&A starts at 8:30 p.m. Can’t make it to the state capitol on March 28? Head south to Centralia for the Roco Ranch Film Festival on Thursday, April 3 at 8 p.m. for a second showing. “The House” has already won four best documentary awards and is currently selected for screenings at more than a dozen film festivals.
