Judge grants motion to prevent release of sexually violent predators in Stanislaus County
TURLOCK — A Stanislaus County Superior Court judge granted a motion to prohibit the placement of two sexually violent predators at a residence in the county, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office said the attorneys of Kevin Gray, 72, and Timothy Weathers now have time to appeal the ruling.
Gray and Weathers have both admitted to molesting more than 70 children between the two of them, prosecutors said.
Gray's history of sex crimes against children goes back 50 years. He has admitted to molesting more than 50 children and has said he has exposed himself to young girls more than 1,000 times.
A third-party health care facility had previously recommended the release of Gray back into society, and a judge granted it despite the Department of State Hospitals determining independently that Gray still posed a risk to the public. According to the state, Gray was up for conditional release because he underwent lengthy treatment outlined under the conditional release program.
Since then, there has been an effort to find Gray—and also Weathers, separately—a home in the county where he could live.
After the judge granted that release, the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office filed the motion to prevent it. The district attorney's office said it has received nearly 1,000 emails from the community offering input into the matter.
California lawmakers are attempting to get a measure on the 2026 November ballot that would give state doctors the final say on sexually violent predator releases.