A San Diego County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that a sexually violent predator known as the "Bolder-Than-Most" rapist will be placed back into the community and continue treatment under a conditional release program.
Following a closed-door evidentiary hearing that lasted several days, Judge David M. Gill ruled that Alvin Ray Quarles, 56, will be released to a home somewhere in San Diego County.
An Aug. 30 status conference was scheduled, at which time the public will be allowed to weigh in and officials with CONREP, the conditional release program run by the California Department of State Hospitals, may present potential housing options.
However, Gill said it typically takes "at least three months" for a suitable home to be located in these cases. Until then, Quarles will remain at Coalinga State Hospital, where he's been undergoing sex offender treatment since 2014.
Quarles was dubbed the "Bolder-Than-Most" rapist because of the way he attacked his victims, at knifepoint, sometimes forcing the women's husbands or boyfriends to watch. He pleaded guilty in 1989 to committing more than a dozen sexual assaults in the mid-to-late 1980s and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
In September 2016, Quarles petitioned the court to be granted release through the Conditional Release Program for sex offenders. Gill ordered last fall that Quarles could be released to a home in Jacumba Hot Springs, a decision that prosecutors, along with county Supervisor Dianne Jacob, requested that Gill reconsider. Since that time, the agreement to rent the residence has fallen through, and Gill allowed for further argument toward a possible reconsideration of his decision to release Quarles.
Two of Quarles' victims, Cynthia Medina and Mary Taylor, expressed disappointment over the ruling, as well as Gill's order to keep the evidentiary hearings closed to the public due to privacy concerns over the potential disclosure of Quarles' psychiatric reports. .
"We were not even allowed to know who was testifying, let alone be allowed in there to hear the testimony," Taylor said. "So, I want to ask Judge Gill, how am I supposed to accept this decision when I've been completely cut out of it?"
Jacob echoed those sentiments, saying: "He's not safe to be released. And again, we were not privileged to the information that the judge had to make his decision. That's not fair and that's not right."
Jacob said she hopes Quarles is placed somewhere outside of the county, though she had one potential in-county idea.
"If I had my pick, I think we ought to put him right next to Judge Gill's house," Jacob said.
