A Douglas County judge has ordered a 32-year-old man convicted of sexually assaulting two boys in Douglas County in 2001 to remain in state custody for further sex-offender treatment.

Chief District Judge Robert Fairchild in a written decision determined Dale D. Patterson Jr. was a sexually violent predator and was likely to engage in repeat acts of sexual violence without undergoing further treatment. Fairchild heard evidence in a bench trial two weeks ago in which Andrew Bauch, an assistant Kansas attorney general, and Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson asked the judge to make the finding.

Patterson had served a prison sentence since he pleaded no contest in 2003 to two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy after prosecutors accused him of pulling a BB gun on two boys and asking them to commit sex acts on him.

A key piece of testimony at the trial was statements Patterson made to a detective about other possible male victims in cases in which he was never charged. Two psychologists who testified for the state considered the statements about additional victims when they evaluated Patterson and said they considered Patterson to be a pedophile.

Defense attorney Carl Folsom had argued it was improper for the doctors to consider those cases because the statements were hearsay and Patterson was unable to refute them in court. But Fairchild said the Kansas Supreme Court has ruled expert witnesses are allowed to consider such facts when forming opinions in these types of cases. He also said Folsom could have called the detective in the case as a witness.

Patterson will now be committed to custody of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services to undergo treatment. Folsom said the defense will appeal the decision.