FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Date: April 14, 2005
Contact: Jennifer Stone (619) 531-4766

COUNTY MOVES TO TIGHTEN SAFETY NET AROUND SEXUALLY VIOLENT PREDATORS

SAN DIEGO - The County of San Diego is throwing its muscle behind several pieces of State legislation designed to protect communities from Sexually Violent Predators, convicted sex offenders who have been committed to a State mental hospital and are eligible for release if they progress through a multi-phase treatment program. Two such individuals have been recommended for release in San Diego County.

At the request of Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Ron Roberts, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to support legislation that would strengthen laws dealing with Sexually Violent Predators. Specifically, the Board is supporting six bills:

• Assembly Bill 1109, which would require local officials to be notified 65
  days in advance of any hearing on the placement of a Sexually Violent
  Predator and require local officials, in turn, to notify the public of the
  hearing
• AB 1683, which would require the State to provide local law enforcement
  with written conditions of a Sexually Violent Predator's release and give
  notice if those conditions are changed
• AB 603, which would increase the amount of time Sexually Violent
  Predators can be committed to a state mental hospital from two years to
  five years
• AB 113, which would prevent Sexually Violent Predators on parole from
  living within a mile of schools or daycare centers
• AB 1603, which would make known the number of Sexually Violent Predators
  that violate the conditions of their release
• Senate Bill 722, which would formulate a plan to place sexually violent
  predators in a secure and remote housing facility

"With two of these deranged individuals slated for release into our County by the State, we must work as aggressively as possible to protect the public, particularly our kids," said Jacob before the Board vote on
Tuesday.

Jacob has attended nearly every preliminary court hearing for Douglas Badger, a Sexually Violent Predator who the State considered releasing in the College Area. That plan was abandoned after fierce objections from the community.  Badger's victims included college-age male hitchhikers.

Hearings are scheduled for next month to discuss the placement of Badger and a second Sexually Violent Predator, Matthew Hedge, slated for release in San Diego County.

Jacob has proposed to the judge overseeing Badger's case that Badger be placed in a trailer near Donovan State Prison, far from residential areas. She supports the same placement for Hedge.