Borrego Sun - Since 1949

Alvin Ray Quarles, a man dubbed as the "bolder-than-most rapist" was granted conditional release on Jan. 11 in San Diego County in a supervised setting. It is unclear of which community he will be located.

This ruling means state hospital officials will begin searching for a residence where Alvin Ray Quarles, 61, can be housed under strict supervision to continue undergoing treatment at an off-site location.

Next court hearing on Quarles' placement and housing is set for Feb. 16.

In 1989, Quarles pled guilty to more than a dozen sexual assaults, robberies and burglaries. Some of the attacks were committed at knifepoint and Quarles sometimes forced the women's husbands or boyfriends to watch. He was committed to a state hospital as a sexually violent predator in 2014.

San Diego County Superior Court Judge David M. Gill granted Quarles' release following a bench trial in which he heard direct testimony from a psychologist who evaluated Quarles on a year-to-year basis.

Back in 2020, Judge Gill's decision to release Quarles to a home somewhere in San Diego County, where he would undergo treatment through a conditional release program, was overturned.

Judge Gill is also the same judge who settled on the placement of SVP Michael Martinez on Running M Road in Borrego Springs in July 2022.

After the announcement of the conditional release of Quarles, San Diego County District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond said, "It is with profound disappointment and deep concern that I express my opposition to the decision allowing the placement of Sexually Violent Predator Alvin Quarles, also known as the "Bolder than Most" rapist, back into San Diego County.

The judge's decision is devastating for our community, and I strongly believe there is no place for such a monstrous individual in our midst. His behavior's consistent and egregious nature underscores the fact that he should never be allowed to re-enter our community. My heart goes out to the victims who now must endure the painful prospect of reliving their trauma, knowing that this dangerous individual will be reintegrated into society."

During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Zach Wallace said four doctors who evaluated Quarles concluded he was ready for release. The prosecutor said the D.A.'s Office examined case law regarding SVP releases and found that in a prior case, prosecutors were unable to challenge an SVP's release when no mental health professionals disagreed with the individual's suitability for release.

A psychologist who had conducted Quarles' annual evaluations for his possible release since 2020 testified virtually. She says while he wasn't ready to be released from 2020 to 2022, Quarles was cleared in 2023.

According to the District Attorney's office, he has finished a sex offender treatment program in the past, and was evaluated by specialists who've cleared him to be released. In closing arguments, the District Attorney's office cited three other independent evaluations coming to the same conclusion for Quarles being eligible for a conditional release to the custody of Liberty Healthcare CONREP, as it is their opinion that he can now be treated safely in the community.

One of Quarles' victim's, Mary Taylor, attended the trial. Following the judge's ruling, she said, "As upset as I am about him now going to be walking the streets sometime in 2024 most likely, he won't be doing it without supervision. And I know that supervision won't last forever but at least that gives me some hope."

Due to the current legislation, Taylor understood the judge's decision. She added, "What a terrible catch-22, like we want him to stay in, but the law says he has to come out and we don't want him to go into a local community, but if he doesn't get a home in a community he could just be released onto the streets."

Supervisor Desmond concluded, "I want to assure the residents of San Diego County that I am committed to doing everything I can to prevent such placements in our community. The safety and well-being of our residents must always be our top priority, and I will continue to advocate for measures that protect our community from individuals who threaten public safety."

"I am bringing forward legislation at our next Board meeting to prevent sexually violent predators from being placed in our community. I will keep you updated as we get closer to the vote."

"This decision, once again, underscores the need for comprehensive reform in the way sexually violent predators are handled within our legal system."

In July 2023, following more than two years of objections to Liberty Healthcare and the CA Department of State Hospital (DSH) practice of hiding SVPs in rural neighborhoods, an audit of the SVP Conditional Release Program (CONREP) was approved. Senator Brian Jones and Supervisor Desmond and others refer to this program as "Hide the Predator."

Using this methodology, counties were precluded from making input to the process used by Liberty to select housing locations. The focus is on rental properties in neighborhoods, without regard to where boys, girls, and women who fit the SVP victim profiles reside. Behind closed doors of the Superior Court, Liberty proposes the location as the "only and best" property, and has the judge visit it without notice to the neighborhood. By the time the location is announced with an opportunity for public comment, it is essentially a "done deal."

The unanimous vote by the members of the CA Joint Legislative Audit Committee who agreed to Senator Brian Jones' request to review the SVP CONREP was a huge step toward correcting an egregiously flawed program and placement system used by the Superior Court.

In Senator Jones' letter to Assemblyman David Alvarez, Chair of the California Joint Legislative Audit Committee, he stated his deep concerns about the SVP CONREP program and hopes that this audit, "will provide some much-needed transparency as the program comes under increasing public scrutiny and criticism for its lack of accountability and transparency. The history of Liberty Healthcare's attempted SVP placements has shown a severe lack of concern for public safety in our local communities. I have become too familiar with the CONREP process over the last few years with multiple attempts to place SVPs in San Diego County."