A sexually violent predator will be released on transient status to live somewhere temporarily in San Diego County.
Merle Wakefield, who was convicted of sexual assaults in the '80s and '90s, was approved by a judge in 2020 for "transient release," meaning he will be able to leave the state hospital he has been receiving treatment and temporarily live somewhere back in society.
The state hospitals and courts would monitor Wakefield's behavior to see if he would eventually qualify for permanent housing.
On Thursday, Judge Yvonne Campos, who handled Wakefield's case, wanted to make one thing crystal clear: Wakefield's transient release does not mean he will have free reign back in public.
Campos ordered that Wakefield have 24/7 surveillance with a GPS tracker and a guard.
Campos said she had two burdens to uphold Thursday at Wakefield's hearing: the burden of ensuring public safety and the burden of making sure Wakefield was granted his rights to release.
It has been almost four years since a judge approved Wakefield's release because he had served both his prison term and completed his state hospital treatment.
Because Wakefield still remains in the state hospital under Liberty Healthcare Corporation's care, Campos said it was finally time that he be granted his conditional release, on the terms that he has 24/7 supervision.
Wakefield's public defender, Nancy Astifo, expressed that both she and Liberty Healthcare did not recommend that Wakefield's housing situation be moved from one hotel to another. They wanted to find a more stable environment for him.
Liberty suggested the idea of an RV, which would also allow the state hospital more time to find him stable housing.
However, Campos opposed the idea of an RV as it presented issues with registering Wakefield as a sex offender.
Campos said that housing options were also limited because of codes that prevented SVPs within three-quarters of a mile of schools, parks, and other public locations.
Campos said 6,907 property searches were conducted for Wakefield's placement, and ultimately, only two properties qualified.
Both of those properties are where former SVPs were housed.
On Thursday, Wakefield was ordered to be placed into one of those two properties by next week, and Liberty was tasked to pick the property.
Another contingency that was decided on Thursday was that if one of the homes becomes unavailable, Wakefield would be moved into an RV purchased by Liberty, and law enforcement would have to assist in finding safe locations for Wakefield to park.
At this time, the courts will not disclose the temporary address of where Wakefield will be staying; however, by law, the courts will have to disclose the address when he's placed somewhere permanently.
One civilian attended Wakefield's hearing Thursday to learn more about "transient release" and which neighborhood he would be placed into.
Jeff Grace founded the Facebook group "Keep RB Safe" to put a stop to another SVP, Douglas Badger, from moving into Rancho Bernardo back in 2021.
Grace said, with community help, he was successful in stopping Badger from being placed in Rancho Bernardo.
Earlier this year, Grace assisted the city of Poway in successfully preventing Wakefield from being placed there.
Grace said he wanted to know more about what a "transient status" would mean for Wakefield.
While Grace said he understood the burdens that Judge Campos had to uphold, he still felt that Wakefield should not be allowed back into the community.
"In my opinion, there is no place for SVPs, regardless of whether they've served their time or not, in traditional communities," Grace said. "They can be placed in trailers, behind the walls of a state-run correctional facility."
Thursday afternoon, another SVP, Alvin Quarles, who is known as the 'Bolder than most rapist', will also go before a judge and have his conditional release discussed.
ABC 10News reported that Judge Gaston granted Quarles' request for release, despite the fact that permanent housing had not been identified.
The next court hearing will be December 19th for a status conference at 9 a.m.. The hearing will explore different options for Quarles' temporary housing.
