Convicted child molester Kevin Scott Gray is likely to be released into a rural Stanislaus County residence after a court ruling in his favor earlier this month.

Gray, who was convicted for crimes dating back to 1974 and has been held by the Department of State Hospitals since 2002, was scheduled to be released into a home at 400 N. Central Avenue west of Turlock’s city limit last summer. However, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Carrie M. Stephens halted the release when authorities learned that a home school operated next door to the proposed dwelling.

The case made its way to the California Supreme Court, which returned it to the Fifth District. On July 8, the court of appeals ruled that Stanislaus County Superior Court must “vacate its order dated July 22, 2024, holding that Gray’s placement at the proposed site is barred” by the home-school provision.

State law prohibits any person with “a history of improper sexual conduct with children” from being released into a dwelling within a quarter-mile of a public or private school.

The issue was whether a registered home-school truly qualifies as a private school.

The state’s top court did not rule one way or the other, and instead instructed the Fifth District to analyze a similar case (People v. Michael Thomas Cheek) and other factors to determine whether this type of home school statutorily bars placement of a sexually violent predator.

The Fifth District ruled that “for purposes of the Education Code, independent study is a ‘program,’ not a type of ‘school.’ Indeed, nothing in the Education Code suggests that the location where independent study occurs … constitutes a school.”

Gray and convicted child molester and former Ceres resident Timothy Roger Weathers, 62, both were set to be released to the west Turlock residence. However, there remains a question as to whether the location is suitable for two residents.

“The portion that would be Weathers’ residence was added without proper permitting,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Wendell Emerson. “That may hold up his release until that can be done properly.”

Gray, now 73, has admitted to molesting 25 children and having committed 1,000 acts of indecent exposure against female victims between the ages of 8 and 11, court documents show.

In 1974, Gray pleaded guilty in Los Angeles County to one count of child molestation and received 36 months of formal probation.

Five years later in Park County, Wyo., Gray was convicted of one count of having sexual contact with a minor, as well as burglary with intent to commit a felony. He was sentenced to four years in state prison and was credited with 14 months for time spent at the Wyoming State Hospital. 

In 1986, Gray was convicted in Stanislaus County for committing lewd acts with an 11-year-old Ceres girl, and received an eight-year sentence. In May 1993 he was convicted again in Stanislaus County on two counts of committing lewd acts with a child under the age of 14, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Weathers was convicted in 1986 for molesting a child and sentenced to probation. Two years later, while still on probation, the former Ceres resident was convicted of molesting two different boys in Stanislaus County. He was sentenced in 1991 to 18 years in prison, then transferred to the state hospital in 2000, and admitted to doctors that he molested 20 to 45 boys.

Gray will have a hearing on Aug. 8 — Weathers’ hearing will be a week later — and then a public forum must be held to collect citizen feedback on the matter. A date has not yet been determined for the forum.

Turlock businesswoman Candace Gonsalves, who has spearheaded a community effort to block the release of the SVPs into her neighborhood, said she will continue to fight.

“There’s has to be legislative changes,” said Gonsalves. “There’s never going to be a better solution to this until the law is changed; it’s just a matter of bringing awareness.”

The proposed residence, located at 400 N. Central Ave., is owned by Turlock businessman Surjit Malhi. He entered into a rental agreement with Liberty Healthcare (overseer of the state’s SVP conditional release program) in March of 2024 to receive $10,500 per month to house Gray and Weathers. Though Stanislaus Superior Court ruled last July that the site was unsuitable, rental payments at taxpayer expense have continued ever since, totaling more than $150,000.