"We are not going to accept this": Neighbors, leaders rally to stop sexually violent predator's placement in Amador County
AMADOR COUNTY - Could a man classified as a "sexually violent predator" by the state of California soon be released in Amador County?
That question drove a recent CBS13 investigation and also brought community members and leaders together Tuesday night for a town hall on the topic.
The release proposal is being considered in Placer County Superior Court as part of the state's conditional release program, allowing sex offenders to reenter society after serving their time in jail and getting treatment in state hospitals.
William Stephenson, the sexually violent predator up for release, is no neighbor Paul and Marcia Urenda will be giving a warm welcome.
"I'm going to be worried wherever I go, whatever I do," said Marcia Urenda.
The Urendas live immediately next door to the Sutter Creek home along Shake Ridge Road that's been proposed as a home Stephenson could be released to under court order.
"That's unacceptable. It's just really wrong," said Marcia.
The now-empty home overlooks their driveway, stealing their sense of security if it will soon house Stephenson.
The home is also an estimated 50-100 yards away from a school bus stop where children are picked up and dropped off daily. A banner, put up by neighbors, now sits there with a warning and Stephenson's photo on it, stating boldly, "Not in Amador!"
"My grandchildren, my wife, if I leave them here, he can see when I come and go. It's just frightening," said Paul Urenda.
Those fears prompted Tuesday night's packed town hall meeting, hosted by Amador County Sheriff Gary Redman, District Attorney Todd Riebe, and others. The sheriff is among those determined to stop the placement.
"We are not going to accept this," Redman told the community at Tuesday's meeting.
He called the process so far of the state and the courts deciding where to place Stephenson choice words, including negligent, dishonest and deceptive.
"I think we can all agree, there is nobody that wants this person in Amador County," the sheriff said Tuesday, met with applause by the crowd of dozens at the meeting.
Stephenson's criminal history spans decades in El Dorado County; it includes sexual assault, indecent exposure and reoffending in Placer County in 2017 when he was arrested again, after being released, for possessing child pornography on an electric device.
He's now up again for conditional release from California's Department of State Hospitals where he has been receiving treatment.
But as CBS13 first reported, state contractors and a search committee both claim they have not been able to find suitable housing in Placer County where Stephenson's most recent crimes were committed.
"They have not provided any extenuating circumstances as to why they decided Amador County was the place," said Karen Warburton, a concerned neighbor who also lives on Shake Ridge Road.
Why Amador County? It's not his home county, leaders tell CBS13 he has no family there, and it is not where the crimes happened.
That question has State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil taking action for her constituents, citing a law change under Senate Bill 1034. She says as of January 1, 2023, this law tightened the existing law surrounding placing sexually violent predators in communities. It also demands more transparency for the county where such a person would be placed. Transparency, Alvarado-Gil says, has been nonexistent thus far.
"Would that disqualify him from coming to this particular address in Amador County?" asked CBS13 reporter Ashley Sharp.
"Absolutely. If we use the current law, it would disqualify him," responded Alvarado-Gil.
She says that means Stephenson cannot be housed in Sutter Creek. It's why she is fighting alongside her constituents to stop it.
"I don't see how somebody with that history and those crimes has more rights than we do," said Marcia Urenda.
Amador County's District Attorney Todd Riebe told CBS13 Tuesday night that negotiations about Stephenson's placement will continue in Placer County Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon. In the hearing, Riebe says he will ask for all documents regarding why Amador County was chosen for Stephenson's placement to be turned over to him.
He says this will buy his office time as he too is arguing there are no legal grounds for Stephenson to be placed in Sutter Creek and that county officials were not given the opportunity to be engaged in the process before a decision was made, as he claims, is required by law under SB1034.
