CAMPO, Calif. (CNS) - Campo residents were notified this week that a man classified as a sexually violent predator will be relocated from a state hospital into a home in their community, where he will live under supervision.
Following a recommendation from state hospital officials to place Alan Earl James, 61, into a home at 1138 Custer Road, a judge approved James' conditional release last month.
James is classified as a sexually violent predator, a designation for those convicted of sexually violent offenses and diagnosed with a mental disorder that makes a person likely to re-offend.
After serving their prison sentences, SVPs undergo treatment at state hospitals, but may also petition courts to continue treatment in outpatient locations, where they are monitored via GPS, among other measures.
According to the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, James has been convicted of "multiple sex crimes involving child molest, forcible child molest, unlawful sexual intercourse, kidnapping for purpose of child molest and unlawful touching," all of which occurred in San Diego County.
He was sentenced to 28 years in state prison in 1986 and committed to a state mental hospital after serving his prison term.
Officials from Liberty Healthcare, the agency that contracts with state hospital officials to operate the conditional release program, have repeatedly stated that none of the SVPs who have been released has re-offended in the history of the program.
Nonetheless, at a court hearing held last month, the District Attorney's Office, Campo residents and San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson, whose district includes Campo, pushed back on James' release to the Custer Road home. Anderson said his district houses 60% of the region's SVPs.
On Wednesday, sheriff's deputies went door-to-door in Campo to notify residents of James' impending release. A sheriff's department statement says James is not wanted for any crimes at this time.
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