People v. Superior Court of Santa Cruz County
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Cheek was convicted of kidnapping, rape, and forcible oral copulation in 1980. He escaped prison, raped a 15-year-old, and was convicted of rape and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor. When Cheek’s prison term neared its end, he was declared a sexually violent predator (Welfare. & Institutions Code 6600). In 2019, the Department of State Hospitals deemed Cheek appropriate for conditional release. The court found Cheek could be adequately supervised in a less restrictive setting. The agency identified a placement site in rural Santa Cruz. The staff responsible for supervising Cheek would be 65 miles away. The Department notified the surrounding community, as required by statute, prompting significant community response. Specific concerns included that the site has no cellular service, is close to hiking trails. and is near a bus stop used by school children. Months later, the district attorney provided a declaration from a private school operating out of a home less than a quarter mile from the proposed placement site. It began operating weeks after the notice was sent, with two teachers (parents of students), four full-time students, and six part-time students.
The court accepted that there is a school within a quarter mile of the site but found the statutory restriction inapplicable because the school was established after the notification of proposed release. The court of appeal vacated the placement order. The statute prohibiting placement of certain sexually violent predators near a school does not require the school to have been operating for any particular time nor preclude application to schools operating in a home.
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