The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s office is beginning the process of collecting public and agency comments regarding the impending release of convicted child-molester Kevin Scott Gray.
District Attorney Jeff Laugero said his team is currently setting up an email address, phone line and various social media platforms for the public to deliver comments. Further details will be provided as early as next week.
“We want to make sure we’re gathering the proper information for the court,” said Laugero, whose office has battled Gray’s release for nearly two years.
Gray, who was convicted for crimes dating back more than 50 years and has been held by the Department of State Hospitals since 2002, was scheduled to be released into a home about three miles outside of Turlock in mid-2024. However, his release has been tied up by legal challenges ever since, reaching the state Supreme Court in January. The state’s top court returned the case to the Fifth District Appellate Court, which then ruled in favor of Gray, 74.
The Department of State Hospitals has since notified the DA of its intention to release Gray into a dwelling at 400 N. Central Avenue. That notification opens a narrow window of time in which the DA has to act. Comments must be submitted to the court and to the DSH by Dec. 26. A placement hearing in front of Judge Carrie M. Stephens is scheduled for Jan. 16. At that time, the court will hear the objections to Gray’s release.
Candace Gonsalves, who lives close to the proposed dwelling and has spearheaded the public opposition to Gray’s release, said she’s not willing to give up the fight just yet.
“I think the DA did a really good job when presenting all the mistakes that were made in the assessment of the house,” said Gonsalves, who pointed out that the dwelling is close to a bar and several school bus stops. “That part hasn’t been heard or argued yet. I’m going to hold onto hope that Judge Stephens will see that Liberty (Healthcare) has not done its job to the extent that our children truly deserve. Liberty needs to go back and do a quality assessment of the residence.”
According to the DSH website, the state hospital “contracts with Liberty Healthcare to supervise, treat and monitor” sexually violent predators who are set to be conditionally released. That includes individual contact, substance abuse testing, polygraphs, and GPS monitoring.”
However, the California State Auditor issued a report last year that was critical of the program’s management.
“Over the last 20 years of a no-bid contract, DSH has paid Liberty Healthcare nearly $93 million to manage just 56 individuals — averaging $1.66 million per SVP,” state Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) said in a press release. “With this price tag, Californians deserve real safety assurances, but the audit reveals critical lapses in safety oversight and even re-offenses among released SVPs. This longstanding contract has allowed Liberty Healthcare’s performance to slip, while DSH fails to hold them accountable.”
In addition to Gray, convicted child molester Timothy Roger Weathers also was set to be released at the Central Avenue location, where he would live in an add-on dwelling. Because of permitting issues, that add-on was deemed uninhabitable, and Weathers has since filed a transient-release motion, arguing that the process to find a suitable location has taken too long, the DA said.
Weathers, 63, 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. He admitted to doctors that he molested 20 to 45 boys.
Gray admitted to molesting 25 children and committing 1,000 acts of indecent exposure against female victims between the ages of 8 and 11, court documents show.
