Placer County judge rejects immediate release of sexually violent predator
ROSEVILLE – The attorney representing a sexually violent predator asked for his client's immediate release before a judge Friday citing due process.
The reason? For the last 18 months, the state and its contractor, Liberty Health, have failed to find a location for William Robert Stephenson's release into the community.
Inside the courtroom, people were nearly shoulder-to-shoulder to oppose Stephenson's placement.
It is clear he will be released. What is not clear? Where.
The conversation was déjà vu for County Supervisor Bonnie Gore.
"I was a resident in the neighborhood where Mr. Stephenson was released in 2014," she said.
At the time, she claimed the neighborhood's only comfort rested on knowing where he lived.
In 2017, authorities re-arrested for possession of child pornography.
This time around, the state has yet to find a fixed location for him.
"In terms of immediate release for Mr. Stephenson, that is denied," Judge Garen Horst told the courtroom.
Instead, the judge ordered Liberty Health to continue their search.
The provider said it would but may have found a suitable home to place an RV, which the judge had not been made aware of any viable locations until Friday morning.
The district attorney was also unaware, as the state is required to give a 30-day notice for county officials to vet places.
In a way, did the state violate its own law?
"In essence – yes, it is," District Attorney Morgan Gire told CBS13. "They are required to give a fixed address. Providing a notice without an address is not providing notice."
But counter-protestors say Placer County is the one in violation.
In an online blog, the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws claims leaders are ignoring the experts and wrote in part, "Given these facts, one could conclude that registrants make good neighbors and keep your children safe. Perhaps the best cry should be IMBY (in my backyard), not NIMBY."
If that is the case, sexual assault survivor Anabel Velasquez asked, will anyone from the alliance consider housing Stephenson?
"He has rights like everybody else," she said. "But the thing is, I think he took away his own rights when he started assaulting kids."