A Los Angeles County supervisor urged her constituents to speak up after California announced a proposal to release a convicted serial sexual predator, dubbed the "Pillowcase Rapist," to a neighborhood in the High Desert.
"Our Juniper Hills, Pearblossom, and the Antelope Valley residents at large have every right to voice their concerns about this predator's placement in their community," Supervisor Kathryn Barger said.
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The Department of State Hospitals proposed to house convicted rapist Christopher Evans Hubbart in a remote community near Devil's Punchbowl, a state park about 16 miles southeast of Palmdale.
KNX News' Emily Valdez spoke with Juniper Hills Town Councilmember Jan Wise, who said, "Because of various laws that are in place right now, he's done his 'time.' They need to find a place out in public, which he has no business being in."
She said one of the problems with that area is that cell phone service and internet service are spotty at best. She wonders how they will track him with a GPS device.
"He needs to be in some kind of an institution for the rest of his life," said Wise.
Supervisor Barger said, "While I understand that the state performs a comprehensive study and assessment before proposing a site, nothing takes the place of the real-world perspectives that only community members can offer."
In March 2023, a Santa Clara County Superior Court deemed Hubbart suitable for conditional release after spending the better part of the last 50 years bouncing around different Californian facilities for numerous rapes and sexual assaults.
In 1972, Hubbart was sentenced to a state hospital for a series of rapes in L.A. County. After serving seven years, Hubbart was released and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area , where he committed another string of sexual assaults, which he was convicted for in 1983.
In all, Hubbart admitted to sexually assaulting 38 women between 1971 and 1982. He was given the dubious moniker because he muffled his victims' screams with pillowcases. Authorities designated him a sexually violent predator in 2000 and admitted him to a psychiatric hospital.
After 13 years, a judge ordered his release after completing treatment and doctors deemed him fit to live in a community. In 2014, he moved to a small home in Palmdale, where he was forced to wear an ankle monitor, attend therapy, undergo lie detector tests, and allow random searches of his home.
Another condition of his release barred him from viewing movies or online material that would arouse him. Hubbart went back into custody after a judge revoked his conditional release in 2017.
L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón will explain Hubbart's latest conditional release on Sept. 4 at the Juniper Hills Community Center, located at 31401 106th Street East, Juniper Hills, CA 93543.
Residents can send written comments to the L.A. County District Attorney's office at svpcomments@da.lacounty.gov before the deadline of Sept. 17.
DA Gascón told KNX New Chief Correspondent Charles Feldman he vehemently opposes Hubbart's release.
"I'm opposed to his conditional release primarily because he was convicted in three different locations," said the DA. "He was given an opportunity to rehabilitate, and we question whether he's rehabilitated now."
Gascón says the convicted sex offender has a history of ignoring conditions set by the courts, and his office plans to fight against his release at a hearing set to determine if Hubbart's proposed housing situation is suitable.
The hearing will be on Oct. 1 at 1:30 p.m. at L.A. County Superior Court's Hollywood Courthouse.
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