MODESTO — Convicted child molester Timothy Roger Weathers, who was set to be released into a residence just outside the Turlock city limit, said in court Friday that he is frustrated with the pace of legal proceedings and wants to be set free as a transient.
For more than a year, Stanislaus County District Attorney Jeff Laugero has opposed the release of Weathers and another sexually violent predator — 73-year-old Kevin Scott Gray — into a residence on North Central Avenue just outside the Turlock city limit.
Gray’s case reached the state Supreme Court before it was returned to the Fifth District Court of Appeal, which ruled that the home school was less a school and more of a “program” and does not nullify Gray’s — or Weathers’ — right to live there.
Weathers’ case is tied closely to Gray’s since both are represented by Modesto attorney Martin Baker, who declined to comment following Friday’s proceedings.
“It’s been two and a half years and I would kind of like to revisit the transient release,” said Weathers, who indicated he was willing to work with the DA’s office and the public to ease fears that he would reoffend. “I’m frustrated. They’re stalling for the release that I’ve been waiting for.”
Superior Court Judge Carrie M. Stephens said she could not rule on whether to release Weathers as a transient.
“The process has to take place fairly and thoroughly and within the law,” Stephens told Weathers, who joined the proceedings via video-conferencing. “The issue of transient release is not before me right now. … I understand your frustration. I made this ruling quite a while ago.”
A transient release involves placing an offender into a hotel, trailer, or even a motorhome.
“The failure rate on transient releases is very, very high,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Wendell Emerson. “We’ll see if they can find a suitable location that they can recommend to Liberty Healthcare (overseer of the state’s SVP conditional release program), but we’re still going to oppose the proposed placement because we believe he’s a threat to public safety.”
While Gray was to inhabit the main residence at 400 N. Central Ave., Weathers was slated to reside in a converted garage on the property. However, that conversion was completed without property permitting, according to Emerson, and deemed uninhabitable.
During Gray’s court appearance last week, Baker said that a compromise might be possible.
“We’ve had meaningful conversations with all parties involved regarding a possible resolution,” said Baker, who then informed Stephens that the new proposed location is a home on county property.
It’s unclear if Weathers would seek to reside in the main quarters at 400 N. Central should Gray end up residing on county property.
Gray 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. His crimes date back more than 50 years.
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 be in court again on Thursday for a status conference, with all parties attempting to determine the next steps in his case.
Weathers will be back in court on Sept. 21 for a placement review.
