SAN DIEGO — Six sexually violent predators currently are under conditional release in San Diego County and more are set to be released soon.
A townhall meeting was held Tuesday to try and give the public more information on how the SVP program works in California.
For the past three decades, Belinda Drieci has been tracking the sexually violent predator who molested her daughter.
“We showed up at the hearing and begged them not to have him released into the community,” said Drieci.
Michael Martinez was recently released from a state mental hospital to live in Borrego Springs, under the care of a state contractor, Liberty Healthcare.
“When we talked to Liberty health, they don't disclose a lot of information. We don't know how long they're going to be in that setting. Are we going to be notified if he moves, if he's back out in the community?” Drieci said.
Martinez is one of six sexually violent predators currently under conditional release in San Diego County, four of them in Jacumba. A seventh offender, William Stafford, is set to be placed in Jacumba by November 18.
On Tuesday, County Supervisor Jim Desmond led a townhall meeting on zoom to help inform the public about how and why SVPs get released.
“I'd rather have our taxpayer dollars being spent on keeping them in state hospitals, as opposed to in our neighborhoods,” Desmond said during the meeting.
Sexually violent predators have already served their prison sentences. They were committed to a state mental hospital to receive additional treatment until they are no longer a danger to the community, as determined by a judge.
“It's ultimately the judge's decision where to place the individual if they're deemed eligible for release,” said Pat Espinoza, a San Diego County deputy district attorney who attended the townhall meeting.
By state law, SVPs must be placed in the same county where they committed their crimes, in most cases.
The community can submit comments to the court and the sheriff's department, once a location has been proposed.
“We as families that potentially have these predators coming into our neighborhoods, we need to be that voice and we need to be at those hearings, every single time there's a hearing,” said Drieci.
SVPs on conditional release are tracked with GPS monitors. Sometimes they are assigned security guards who live with them. And, they have to take regular lie detector exams.
WATCH RELATED: Two sexual predators move into SD neighborhoods (October 2022)