A judge approved the conditional release Friday for a man classified as a sexually violent predator to a home in Campo.
State hospital officials recently recommended releasing Alan Earl James, 61, to a home located at 1138 Custer Road.
James is classified as a sexually violent predator, a designation for those convicted of sexually violent offenses and diagnosed with a mental disorder that makes them likely to re-offend.
After serving their prison sentences, SVPs undergo treatment at state hospitals, but may also petition courts to continue treatment in outpatient locations, where they are monitored via GPS, among other measures.
According to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, James has been convicted of “multiple sex crimes involving child molest, forcible child molest, unlawful sexual intercourse, kidnapping for purpose of child molest and unlawful touching,” all of which occurred in San Diego County.
He was sentenced to 28 years in state prison in 1986.
On Friday, San Diego Superior Court Judge David M. Gill ordered that James be released no later than March 22.
The judge’s order came at the conclusion of a hearing in which Gill heard from members of the public regarding the proposed release location, all of whom spoke in opposition to placing James there.
Among the speakers was San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson, whose district includes Campo and houses 60% of the region’s SVPs, he said.
Anderson asked Gill to put off his decision on James’ placement because he said he is working with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office on evaluating another property he said will be “amenable to everybody in the community.”
The supervisor said the Department of State Hospitals is aware of the property, as well as Liberty Healthcare, the agency that contracts with state hospital officials to operate the conditional release program. Anderson said the location of the property could not be disclosed publicly because negotiations are ongoing, but said he believes it would satisfy residents, while also providing more secure, safer housing for SVPs.
Campo resident David Genzler was among the locals who urged Gill against placing James at the Custer Road home, which Genzler said is around two miles from a school and less than half a mile from a large gated community that is home to many children.
“The residents of this community have the right not only to their safety, but they have the right to peace of mind,” Genzler said. “I understand that Mr. James’ release into society needs to occur. I just ask that he be released to an area with a lower immediate population, thereby mitigating the negative impact to the community.”
Liberty Healthcare officials have repeatedly stated that none of the SVPs who have been released have re-offended in the history of the program.
Terri Larson, director of citizens group Your Voice Has Power, said James was previously released to a home in Jacumba Hot Springs, but was sent back to a state hospital for some sort of violation of the conditional release program. The nature of that violation has not been disclosed, but Michael Ruiz, an attorney who appeared on James’ behalf, noted that such violations can be for very minor infractions such as “not agreeing with certain aspects of the program.”
Larson also spoke on behalf of two of James’ victims, neither of whom attended the hearing. One of the victims said in a statement read by Larson, “If he is released again, he will strike. He’s going to silence the victims to cover up his crimes. It will be a big mistake to release him.”
Ruiz said he sympathizes with the residents and victims’ concerns, but said James and other SVPs are monitored 24 hours per day with GPS and that James will be chaperoned to any and all locations he travels to while in the program.
