Fairfield Hotels May Be Forced To Take In Sexually Violent Predator Set For Release
SOLANO COUNTY (CBS13) — A sexually violent predator will soon be set free from a state hospital, and he's going to live in hotels in Solano County.
Fraisure Smith is a man nobody wants as a neighbor as recent protests and complaints have shown, but he has to stay somewhere.
"I wouldn't want him to stay at my property just because all the stuff he's gone through," said Fairfield Budget Inn owner Sal Patel.
But he may not have a choice.
The state still can't find housing for Smith, a sexually violent predator up for release from a state hospital. A Solano County judge ruled on Tuesday that Smith would be released as a transient in November. What that actually means is he'll live within various hotels in the county.
A spokesman for the department of state hospital explains that staff will follow Jessica's Law restrictions when selection hotels. That means he won't be allowed to stay within half a mile of parks or schools. Law enforcement will notify the community just as if Smith was being released to a permanent address.
He will also still be subjected to GPS tracking, staff surveillance, specialized sex-offender treatment, weekly drug screening, polygraph exams and 24-7 security upon release.
A Fairfield City Councilwoman told The Daily Republic newspaper that she will encourage hotel owners to refuse to take Smith in.
The department of state hospitals couldn't answer if hotels could refuse to take him in, or how long Smith could stay at one hotel.
"I'm really shocked they can't find a better place, or a home or shelter for someone like him and be away from the neighborhoods; the community," Patel said.