Judge To Consider Revoking Release Of 'Pillowcase Rapist'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — At the request of Los Angeles County prosecutors, a Santa Clara County judge agreed Friday to consider revoking the release of a serial rapist who has been living in an unincorporated area near Palmdale since last summer.
"Pillowcase Rapist" Christopher Evans Hubbart was released from Coalinga State Hospital in July 2014 and was assigned by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Gilbert Brown to live at a home in the 20300 block of East Avenue R.
The ruling caused an uproar from residents in the remote area, along with objections from elected officials, including District Attorney Jackie Lacey.
A spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office declined to discuss the basis for the request to have Hubbart, 64, taken back into custody. In a statement, Lacey said, "We believe this violent predator continues to pose a serious danger to our community. My office is committed to protecting the public."
Brown has since retired from the bench, but Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Richard Loftus agreed to hold a hearing on April 29.
Hubbart was sent to Atascadero State Hospital in 1972 after the court deemed him a "mentally disordered sex offender." Seven years later, doctors said he posed no threat and released him.
Over the next two years, he raped another 15 women in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to court documents. Hubbart was again imprisoned, then paroled in 1990.
After accosting a woman in Santa Clara County, he was sent back to prison and then to Coalinga State Hospital.
Hubbart was designated a sexually violent predator in Santa Clara County in 1996. His lawyers argued last year that Hubbart's continuing detention violated his rights to due process, sparking a battle over where he should live.
As a condition of his release, Hubbart was required to wear an ankle monitor and attend regular therapy sessions and make quarterly reports to a judge.
The revocation hearing, which will be open to the public, will be at 10 a.m. in Santa Clara County Superior Court, Department 32.
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