SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A judge today ordered the release of a sexually violent predator to a home in Jacumba Hot Springs where he'll be closely supervised as part of a conditional release program.
Alvin Ray Quarles will be sent back to Coalinga State Hospital if he violates any terms of his conditional release, said Superior Court Judge David Gill. After a trial in May, Gill found that Quarles was eligible for the conditional release program as the next step in his ongoing treatment.
County Supervisor Dianne Jacob vehemently opposed Quarles' placement in the East County's backcountry, saying the area should not be a ``dumping ground'' for sexually violent predators. Quarles, 56, was dubbed the ``Bolder-Than-Most'' rapist because he attacked his victims at knifepoint, sometimes forcing the women's husbands or boyfriends to watch.
Quarles pleaded guilty in 1989 to committing more than a dozen sexual assaults in the mid-to-late 1980s and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Prior to Quarles' release from prison, the District Attorney's Office filed a petition to have him civilly committed as a sexually violent predator. In 2014, Quarles was committed to the Department of State Hospitals to undergo sex offender treatment.
In September 2016, Quarles petitioned the court to be granted release through the Conditional Release Program for sex offenders. Two months ago, the Department of State Hospitals proposed placing Quarles at a residence at 43050 Desert Rose Ranch Road, about four miles from the downtown area of Jacumba Hot Springs.
More than 30 people showed up at a hearing today to oppose Quarles' release. Among them was Mary Taylor, one of Quarles' victims in 1988. Quarles told Taylor and her female roommate to do what he wanted or he would kill them both, Taylor told the court.``My life turned left that night,'' Taylor said. ``You just never think it's going to be you. My life's been haunted for 30 years.''In 2013, Taylor and other victims protested when Quarles petitioned to be released from the hospital. He eventually went back into treatment at Coalinga.
Taylor said she was told that when Quarles was sentenced to 50 years in prison, ``50 years meant 50 years.''Gill said he had confidence that Quarles would be properly monitored by Liberty Healthcare, the company contracted to run the conditional release program.
The judge ordered Quarles to be placed in the Jacumba Hot Springs residence by Nov. 30.