Turlock, Stanislaus and state officials hold press conference protesting pedophile’s release

At a press conference held at the Turlock Police Department on Friday, state and county officials, as well as members of the community, protested the planned release of convicted child sex offender Kevin Gray.

Gray, 72, was convicted of four separate sex crimes against children age 11 and younger. However, he’s admitted that he was not prosecuted for most of his crimes — saying that he’s fondled 50 young girls and indecently exposed himself to 1,000.

State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, Stanislaus County District Attorney Jeff Laugero, Turlock Police Chief Jason Hedden, Stanislaus County Supervisor Vito Chiesa and Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke all spoke against his conditional release to a housing unit off Central Avenue in Turlock.

“I have successfully fought to protect four other counties in my district from becoming dumping grounds for sexually violent offenders,” Alvarado-Gil said. “And today I reaffirm my commitment to keeping all of our communities safe.”

Outside the press conference were dozens of community members also protesting Gray’s release. Some held signs and brought their children.

Megan Bellamy, who lives with her two young daughters near the housing facility, said she didn’t know exactly what she was going to do if Gray is released into her neighborhood. But the lives of her children would change.

“I’m going to keep my kids a lot closer ... I have an 8-year-old little girl, I’m gonna have to really keep my eyes on her,” Bellamy said. “We used to let them run free and, you know, just go down the dirt road and have fun. Now, I’m taking that away from them and they don’t understand that, so it’s gonna be really hard on them”

Gray has been incarcerated since his last conviction in 1992. Once his sentence was completed, he was sent to the state hospital in Coalinga. There, he underwent treatment and numerous psychological evaluations. His progress, according to these evaluations, was enough to qualify him for conditional release.

The DA’s Office has since filed a petition to revoke Gray’s conditional release. During Gray’s first hearing on this petition, Judge Carrie Stevens said there were “substantive issues” she had concerns with in regards to the filing.

“As far as revoking his conditional release, that’s going to be a heavier lift,” Laugero said.

Assessment found planned release location unsuitable

Instead, the DA’s Office is trying to call into question the assessment of the location where Gray is to be released. Laugero said he had his own Bureau of Investigation conduct an assessment, which found the location unsuitable.

“Because of the children in the area, (a) home-school bus stop, there’s a lot of disqualifiers there,” the district attorney said. “So I feel very confident we’re going to succeed there. That would mean that the search would continue for a new location.”

Laugero added that he believes placing Gray at the proposed Central Avenue location would violate the law. While the search for a new location would be “kicking the can down the road,” he said the effort to prevent Gray being placed at this location is in the interest of public safety.

The only organization in California that facilitates conditional release programs (CONREP) for sexually violent predators is Liberty Healthcare. The organization was the subject of scrutiny from many speakers during the press conference on Friday.

An audit of Liberty Healthcare is being pushed for by State Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, who said the organization’s handling of sexually violent predators is “poor management.” He called the system for their release “broken and alarming.” The petition for the audit has gained nearly 1,600 signatures.

“It’s my opinion that Liberty Healthcare has failed to demonstrate the ability to adequately protect the community,” Laugero said. “And it’s my opinion that sexually violent predators should not be released into a conditional release program at this time.”

When asked what public safety precautions the Turlock Police Department would take if Gray is released into the proposed facility, Hedden said there would be “some form of electronic monitoring and extra patrols at the very least.”

“This is a known convicted pedophile, four-time convicted,” Hedden said. “Every time that he has gotten out of custody, he is re-offending. That’s concerning. He belongs in custody at the state mental hospital for the rest of his life.”

Gray’s next court appearance is scheduled for July 1 in Stanislaus County Superior Court.