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Man Who Admitted To Raping 40 Women Could Be Released In L.A.
A man who admitted to raping 40 women since the 1970's—most of them in Southern California—could soon be released.Right now Christopher Evans Hubbart, 62, is being housed at the Coalinga State Hospital in Santa Clara County, according to City News Service. But because he recently passed a psychiatric evaluation, Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Gilbert Brown ruled that he should be released to Los Angeles County November. Now officials here are protesting that move.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey is challenging the judge's ruling. She told CNS, "Our ultimate goal is to seek justice for all residents of Los Angeles County and make sure sexually violent predators remain in custody. This inmate has a long history of horrific violence against women and we must act to keep our community safe.''
Lacey has begun notifying Hubbart's victims that he is returning. In her office's petition to the court, she has also asked that he be returned to San Bernardino County where he was last paroled or Santa Clara County where he spent several years—not Los Angeles.
Hubbart, who grew up in Pasadena and Claremont, has admitted to raping 40 women since 1971, and he has been convicted in 34 cases. He was first arrested in 1972 in Los Angeles at the age of 21 after he committed a string of violent rapes in the San Gabriel Valley and Orange County, according to CBS Los Angeles. He was sent to Atascadero State Hospital, and he was released in 1979 when doctors apparently said he no longer posed a threat—although that turned out to not be true.
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In the next two years, he went on to rape another 15 women in the Bay Area. He was imprisoned again in 1982 and then paroled in 1990. He ended up back in prison soon after when he attacked a jogger and was convicted of false imprisonment, according to the Associated Press.
He was supposed to be released in 1996, but he was admitted to a state mental hospital for treatment instead. Up until now, he has failed to pass his psychiatric evaluations. Each time Hubbart has been released or scheduled to be released he has been greeted with protests.
"He needs to be behind bars, not released into our neighborhoods," County Supervisor Michael Antonovich told the board. "Perhaps the judge should take him, if he wants him out so badly, let him live in Santa Clara in his neighborhood."
When Hubbart is released, the Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Vonda Tracey says Hubbart will be monitored 24/7 by a company called Liberty Healthcare Corporation. He will wear a GPS ankle bracelet, continue treatment, obey a curfew and be subject to random searches, seizures, drug testing and polygraph tests. But the Los Angeles County District Attorney thinks that isn't enough.
Lacey told CNS, "If these crimes were committed today, this inmate's release would not
be in question. Today's violent sexual predators face life in prison."
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