Convicted rapist Shawn Ramon Anderson, 38, was found unsuitable for parole during a July 29 hearing of the State Board of Parole Hearings at Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown.
Deputy District Attorney Monroe Tyler appeared at the hearing and argued that parole should be denied based on the continuing risk Anderson poses to the community if released as well as his lack of genuine insight and remorse for his crimes. The Board of Parole Hearings agreed and denied parole for five years.
This was Anderson’s first parole hearing.
Anderson committed these sexual offenses when he was under the age of 26. Recent changes in state law make him eligible for “youthful offender parole” after serving only 15 years instead of the total sentence of 18 years for all his crimes. If he serves the maximum amount of time possible with his current sentence, Anderson will be released in December 2022. However, the board could request that Anderson be evaluated as a sexually violent predator by the Department of Mental Health. If that examination determines that Anderson has a diagnosable mental disorder and will likely commit new sexually violent acts if released, he may be referred for a civil commitment to a State Hospital immediately upon any release from custody.
Beginning in April 2002, Anderson attacked and sexually assaulted five different women in Stanislaus County.
On April 16, 2002, first female victim was picked up on Kerr Avenue after Anderson offered to give her a ride to Ceres. On the pretense of taking her to his car, he instead took her to a nearby school field, threatened her with a knife and sexually assaulted her.
The second assault took place on July 2, 2003, when Anderson came up behind a woman walking on Yosemite Avenue in Modesto and choked her into unconsciousness. She woke up in a public restroom, where Anderson told her, “If you move, I’ll kill you b----” before sexually assaulting her.
A third victim was forced into a vehicle on July 8, 2003, when Anderson threatened her with a knife and took her to Mancini Park in South Modesto. There he put her in a chokehold and raped her. Anderson also forced her to expose herself to two other men who were nearby.
Anderson kidnapped a fourth victim on Feb. 15, 2004 when he accosted her off of Ninth Street and pretended to have a weapon in his pocket. He ordered her to get into his car and took this victim to Mancini Park where he raped her.
On June 7, 2004, Anderson found victim #5 in Santa Rosa and offered to give her a ride but drove her to a darkened street where he sexually assaulted her. Although this offense occurred in Sonoma County a special provision of the California Penal Code allows for certain offenses – such as serial rapes – to be consolidated and tried in one jurisdiction.
Three of the five victims testified at Anderson’s preliminary hearing. On May 29, 2007, Anderson pled guilty to two counts of rape and two counts of sexual battery, involving four of the five victims. On July 9, 2007, he was sentenced to serve 14 years in prison in a plea agreement.
After going to prison, Anderson associated with the “Crips” criminal prison gang in 2012. In 2014, he was convicted in a new case for attempting to bring drugs and a cellphone into prison which added another four years to his 14-year prison sentence. Since arriving in prison, Anderson has attacked other inmates and seriously injured another inmate during a riot. He has also repeatedly been found making or possessing illegal prison-made alcohol.
Anderson has a long criminal history, including various thefts, dissuading a witness, evading a police officer, possession of a bad check, false identification, and forgery.
