March 18, 2004

“The System is broken”

High-risk sex offender Cary Verse secretly moves to San Jose

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

It seems that no matter where he goes, well-known convicted sex offender Cary Verse faces outrage and public scrutiny wherever he lands—and now he's landed in San Jose.

If Mayor Gonzales and Vice Mayor Pat Dando, along with councilmembers Forrest Williams and Terry Gregory have anything to say about it, Verse will be packing his bags again soon. In a statement issued on Tuesday, they expressed out rage upon learning that the State Department of Mental Health had placed Verse at the Mission Motel on Monterey Road in south San José Monday night.

Police spent the better part of the day on Tuesday posting flyers and notifying residents in the vicinity of Verse's new home—his fourth since being released from Atascadero State Hospital last month.

On Wed. City officials held a press conference outside City Hall to express their outrage in finding out Verse had been relocated to San Jose without their knowledge.

“We believe the cost is too high and the risks to great for our families and our children to have this individual in our community,” commented Gonzales. “We were very surprised and extremely disappointed in how the California Department of Mental Health has handled the placement of Cary Verse in San Jose. The secrecy and lack of information is unacceptable.”

“This man was moved to San Jose in the dark of the night without any warning,” added Dando. “We need to send a message that these types of acts will not be tolerated and should not happen in any community.”

The secrecy is due to a gag order issued by Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge John Minney, where details of planned moves are prohibited from being disclosed, citing the need to create a balance between Verse's successful placement and the public's right to know.

“It is beyond unreasonable, it is beyond irresponsible to not allow the people who are going to be most affected by the decision making process to be involved,” stated Police Chief Rob Davis. “This is not the way to do business when you are trying to determine where it is that you are going to put a high risk sexual predator within a city such as ours.”

On Tues. the City Council will call upon state leaders to reform notification requirements to ensure that local communities will be given advance notice prior to placing a high-risk offender in the city. Additionally, they will ask for legislation that will better define the overall process for placing sex offenders in communities—with requirements that prohibit placing them near parks, schools or other places where children frequent, and further prevent the disproportional placement of sex offenders in any community.

“The system is broken when it comes to placing sex offenders in communities—all communities,” exclaimed Dando. “It is imperatively important that they correct this broken system.”

In explaining the state's responsibility for making laws with regard to the punishment, treatment, and eventual release of sexual and violent criminals, Dando said the accountability stopped there. “In this case, we are left to deal with someone that the state ultimately had responsibility for.”

The city is also calling upon state legislators to review the relationship with Liberty Healthcare Corp., the company awarded a $1 million contract specifically for placing and monitoring sexual predators as part of a strict program called Conditional Release. “Liberty Healthcare is not doing an appropriate job and they have had problems in other states,” she said. “Are they doing the job that the state expected when they signed this million dollar contract?”

The Mission Motel where Verse is, for now calling home is but a stone's throw from Valley Christian School—something that deeply concerns Chancellor Claude Fletcher . “He's very close and we object to him being there in the strongest terms possible,” he remarked. “I would suggest that they place him in one of those mobile homes outside Soledad Prison. I think that keeps him outside the general community and protects our kids.”

33-year-old Verse has had a string of convictions starting at the age of 17, when he molested a 14-year-old high school track teammate at knifepoint. The following year, he escaped juvenile hall with another boy and sexually assaulted him a short time later. He spent a year in jail and, while on parole in 1992, he sexually assaulted a homeless man and served three years in jail for that offense before being sent to Atascadero for treatment.

“I'm just trying to be patient and laying low,” replied Verse during an interview with the Almaden Times Wed. morning. “This is just something I'm going to have to endure for right now. I'm dealing with it and taking it one day at a time—just trying to be decent.”

Verse said he would be willing to sit down and talk with residents about their concerns. “Most sex offender criminals aren't willing to that—and I am.”

Verse is only the second in a new class of convicted sexual predators to be placed in the Conditional Release program that costs approximately $180,000 per person per year by playing “big brother” and tracking their every move with a Global Positioning System satellite. Verse also agreed to chemical castration via regular injections and will receive regular psychological evaluations.

“We're very uncomfortable with the way that's set up,” admitted Police Department spokesperson Steve Dixon. “If he's on restricted property, the only one who will know will be the monitor for the State Department of Mental Health. We will not know and they will not call us unless he takes off the GPS device or refuses to leave. That's not a very good idea.”

“Verse's history shows he is an extremely dangerous sex offender,” said Councilman Williams, who represents the district where Verse was placed. “There is absolutely no assurance he will not strike again and he poses a high risk to our community.”

However, Judge Minney warns he'll be forced to release Verse outright if no community accepts his presence—citing a violation of his constitutional rights to freedom after having served his time. I t's a quandary that promises to grow more complicated as more than 400 sexual offenders await release from state-run psychiatric hospitals, including 47-year-old Patrick Ghilotti, who says he wants to live with his wife in Vacaville after his release He will appear in court on March 25.

“This is a pilot program,” concluded Dando. “Pilot programs may be good in some areas, but when it comes to children's safety, it's not worth it.”