The reappearance in Fairbanks of a man who calls himself Pirate has led to both citizen outrage and media focus in recent weeks. Pirate had been indicted by a grand jury in 2015 for many counts of sexual assault, kidnapping, and assault that occurred after he took a woman to his cabin in Manley Hot Springs and allegedly brutalized her.
[Read: Pirate back in Fairbanks, some are concerned]
Formerly known as Daniel Lloyd Selovich, the now-mostly homeless man with tattoos on his face was released when in 2016 the victim died and the Fairbanks District Attorney dismissed the charges.
In response to citizens’ concerns, the Fairbanks District Attorney and Deputy District Attorney conducted a review of the 2015 case against the defendant and the circumstances of its dismissal.
“The Department of Law has completed its review of the evidence and concluded the dismissal of the 2015 case, while extremely frustrating, was appropriate under the law,” according to a statement from the Department of Law on Thursday. The case dismissal came because without a victim to testify, Pirate would not be given a fair trial in which he could face his accuser and where she could be cross-examined by his attorney.
A group on Facebook formed to keep an eye on Pirate and report sightings of him, and the news media has reported about how others with extensive and similar facial tattoos are being confused with Pirate and have been harassed.
