Community Outraged After Judge Rules To Release Serial Rapist To Lake Los Angeles Neighborhood
LAKE LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A high desert community, determined to keep a notorious serial rapist out of their neighborhood, is in uproar after his parole.
A home in Lake Los Angeles was chosen for Christopher Hubbart, who admitted to raping at least 40 women in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the 1970s and 1980s, was chosen by a judge in 2013.
However, the property owner withdrew the home following the community backlash.
Residents, rallying at a Town Hall meeting on Tuesday night, want to know why Hubbart is again being sent to the Palmdale area.
"We're not going to put up with it, and this is going to be our last and final fight," Lake Los Angeles resident Lisa Interrante said. "We really, really, really have to pull together. We cannot stress it enough that we cannot be silent."
A home in East Avenue R in Palmdale was selected for Hubbart after a judge approved his conditional release back to Los Angeles county for the second time, primarily because that is where he lived before the crimes occurred.
"I'm a rape victim, it brings back flashbacks," Lake Los Angeles resident Cheryl Holbrook said. "And I just see this guy coming and doing it to any woman out here, any young girl out here, and we've got to stop this."
Residents are reportedly gathering signatures and writing letters to the judge who approved the location, with the intention of presenting them at a hearing to review public comments on May 21.
A number of residents also want to know why Hubbart is being released in the first place, with today's violent sexual predators facing life in prison, according to Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey.
Hubbart has been in a psychiatric hospital as a mentally disordered sex offender, which, by law, means he can be released once he is no longer considered a threat to society.
According to his lawyer, Hubbart finished sex-offender treatment, which he says means he is no longer dangerous.
Residents, meanwhile, hope the property owner will reconsider the judge's decision.
