An appeals court overturned a San Diego judge's decision to release a Sexually Violent Predator known as the "Bolder-Than- Most" rapist from a state hospital and into the community.
The three-justice panel ruled Monday that San Diego County Superior Court Judge David M. Gill used an incorrect legal standard to reach his ruling that Alvin Ray Quarles, 57, should be released to a supervised home somewhere in San Diego County, where he would undergo treatment through a conditional release program.
Following a series of closed-door hearings last year, Gill sought the "least restrictive setting" possible to continue Quarles' treatment, the panel wrote, though "Quarles has not provided any case law in which a court held that it must find the least restrictive setting in which to release an SVP."
For that reason, the panel ruled that Gill's ruling be overturned, with Quarles allowed to file a new petition for the conditional release program if he chooses.
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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 2014, Quarles was committed to a state hospital as a Sexually Violent Predator or SVP, a designation for those convicted of sexually violent offenses and diagnosed with a mental disorder that makes them a danger to the public.
In September 2016, Quarles petitioned the court to be granted release through the Conditional Release Program for sex offenders.
At one time, he was to be released to a home in Jacumba Hot Springs, but the agreement to rent the residence fell through.
County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who has regularly opposed the release of Quarles and other SVPs into East San Diego County, celebrated the appeals court's ruling in a Twitter post.
"The court decision is a victory for the region and public safety, but we can't let down our guard," she wrote . "We must continue to fight the placement of sexually violent predators into our communities."
