A notorious rapist, who muffled victim’s screams with a pillowcase, was back in a state mental hospital on Tuesday, two years after he was released over the protests of prosecutors and women who feared he would attack again.
Christopher Hubbart (65) is not accused of a new crime but was picked up by the Department of State Hospitals, said District Attorney Jackie Lacey, who is under a gag order and could not discuss further details.
‘Good news is tonight’
“The good news is tonight ... he’s back in a state hospital,” Ms. Lacey told KFI-AM. “That’s probably the safest place.”
The program supervising Hubbart reported he had failed to meet the terms of his release and was returned to Coalinga State Hospital, Santa Clara County Superior Court spokesman Joseph Macaluso told the Los Angeles Times .
Ms. Lacey had fought Hubbart’s release and angry residents of the Antelope Valley, where he was relocated about 40 miles north of Los Angeles, had demonstrated regularly outside his remote house where he lived under 24-hour guard and strict conditions.
Placards read ‘burn in hell’
Women shouted through bullhorns that he didn’t belong there and should be locked up. Some burned effigies and carried signs saying “burn in hell.”
A woman, who spent 18 months protesting his release and travelled 350 miles to implore the Santa Clara County judge to keep him out of her community, said she was ecstatic to hear he was gone.
“I feel like I won the lottery,” Cheryl Holbrook said. “We’re praying real hard that they keep him locked up. He’s exactly where he needs to be.”
Declared sexually violent predator
After reoffending and serving more time, Hubbart was declared a sexually violent predator in 2000 and committed to a state-run psychiatric hospital.
A Northern California judge in 2013 ordered Hubbart released after doctors said he had completed treatment and was fit to live in the community. The judge ordered that he live in Southern California near where he grew up, though his notoriety made it difficult to find housing.
When he was released in 2014, he moved into a small house in the desert on the outskirts of Palmdale.
Prosecutors tried to have him returned to custody last year after the batteries in his ankle monitor twice ran too low. A judge denied the request.
Ms. Lacey said she wasn’t told why he was picked up, but expects to find out at a court hearing in 15 days in Santa Clara County.
An e-mail sent to Hubbart’s defence lawyer for comment was not returned.
