Modesto fears of having a sexual predator next door should be heard | Opinion
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- Prosecutors challenge release of convicted predator near rural Turlock home.
- DA Laugero cites safety concerns, accuses Liberty of due diligence failures.
- Legal debate centers on Jessica’s Law and definition of schools and parks.
Does a home school qualify as a place where children gather to learn and socialize, as they would on the grounds of a school? The California Supreme Court says no, and so have the Fifth District Court of Appeals and state Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Now, Stanislaus County District Attorney Jeff Laugero is taking another tack in Stanislaus County Superior Court on Friday (Aug. 8).
The stakes are high: Laugero and many residents do not want Kevin Scott Gray, a 73-year-old violent sexual predator who has been convicted of crimes dating to 1974, released to a home in a rural area three miles west of Turlock.
Liberty Healthcare recommended the placement of Gray and another violent sexual predator, Timothy Weathers, 62, at the same address, but Laugero argues that Liberty failed to do its due diligence on the property on North Central Avenue, just north of Main Street.
Prosecutors filed a motion on July 30, accusing Liberty of misrepresenting key facts about the area, including omitting nearby children, school bus stops and a bar just down the street. Laugero’s office said Liberty’s latest report excluded interviews with school officials, neighbors and law enforcement. In its motion, the DA’s office also said Liberty failed to take into account that community locations like a bowling alley and arcade were places Gray admitted visiting to groom victims in the past.
State law does not require neighbors or school officials to be notified when a sexual predator is being relocated.
“Public safety is my office’s highest priority,” Laugero told The Modesto Bee. “When organizations like Liberty Healthcare fail to conduct proper due diligence and fail in their responsibility to safeguard our community, we will aggressively challenge their reckless decisions in court.”
Jessica’s Law, which California voters passed in 2006, prohibits sex offenders released after Nov. 8, 2006, from living within 2,000 feet of any school or park where children congregate. Laugero and the community face legal hurdles because the courts have ruled a home school is not equal to a school.
In January, the state Supreme Court did not decide if a registered home school qualifies as a private school. Instead, it sent the case back to the Fifth District Court of Appeals to determine if a sexually violent predator can be statutorily prohibited from living near a home school.
In 2024, Stanislaus County Superior Judge Carrie M. Stephens determined that the child’s home constituted a “school” and therefore invalidated the Turlock home as a residence for Gray.
Last month, the Fifth District ruled in Gray’s favor that the court erred in concluding the home-schooled child’s home qualifies as a school.
“It’s dangerous”
“This is not just inappropriate, it’s dangerous,” Chatom Union School District Superintendent Cherise Olvera told The Bee. “Mr. Gray is a sexually violent predator who is a repeat offender and an alcoholic. Yet they are considering placing him between a bar and neighboring children who match the profile of his past victims.”
Olvera said Liberty Healthcare never contacted her school district during its assessment of the property it selected for Gray. “The responsibility to protect our children must outweigh the convenience of placement,” she said.
Mindy Brueen, who lives a few houses away from the North Central Avenue home that’s in the middle of the controversy, is leading the protest against Liberty and its decision to house Gray.
“Liberty has completely failed to do its job. They never talked to any of us,” she told The Bee. “They claim this is an isolated location – it’s not. This is a family neighborhood.”
Erica Farmer, a mother of three whose home shares a chain-link fence with the proposed site, called Liberty’s decision “outrageous.”
“My 11-year-old daughter’s bedroom faces the property — we are literally putting bars on her window.”
Court must reconsider
The court should listen to concerns by the school district, as well as those who will shoulder the consequences of having Gray as a neighbor.
We believe the court should take into account the vicinity of families with children in the area and Liberty’s lack of notifying the school district and homeowners of its intent to place violent sexual predators in their backyard.
The innocent deserve peace of mind.