LOS ANGELES (AP) — He can’t be alone outside after dark,
needs permission to walk through his neighborhood or go to a bowling
alley, and must allow random searches and polygraph tests. For the first
time in roughly two decades, serial rapist Christopher Hubbart is free,
so to speak, but that freedom comes with strict limitations.
Nicknamed
the "Pillowcase Rapist" because he used a pillowcase to muffle his
victims’ screams, Hubbart moved into his new home outside Palmdale
earlier this week despite protests from people in the community about 70
miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
The 63-year-old has acknowledged raping or assaulting 40 women between 1971 and 1983.
Guards
stand watch around the clock to protect the public from him and him
from those who have fought against his release for months. Protesters
have camped outside the tiny home on a dusty plot this week as sheriff’s
deputies patrolled outside every few hours.
Hubbart is one of a
dozen people deemed sexually violent predators who are being monitored
by the state-contracted Liberty Healthcare Corp. His public defender,
Jeffrey Dunn, declined to comment.
Hubbart’s 16-page conditional release terms, at least initially, are a lot like house arrest.
"He’s
not going anywhere on his own, and in fact he’s not even allowed to
drive a car or take the bus, and probably won’t be at least for another
year," said Santa Clara County prosecutor Vonda Tracey. "If he’s going
to the grocery store, somebody’s going with him. Somebody is driving him
to his appointments. When he’s not got some place he needs to be, he’s
at home, and he’s not allowed to leave the property."
Hubbart must
wear a GPS anklet and continue treatment, and he needs permission to
work, use the Internet, or visit the park, beach or pool.
When his
prison term ended in 1996, Hubbart was put in a mental hospital under
California’s civil commitment law. To be constitutionally correct,
ex-cons must be able to progress and ultimately graduate from treatment —
after all, they’ve already served their time. A court will hold annual
hearings to decide whether to continue Hubbart’s supervision, return him
to the hospital or eventually release him unconditionally.
Supporters
of the state’s Sexually Violent Predator program say it allows
authorities to keep dangerous people who’d otherwise be freed as
parolees locked up longer and under more stringent supervision.
"For
somebody who’s on probation or parole, you’ve got one agent for dozens
of people," Tracey said. "For sexually violent predators, you have a
whole team of people, and their sole job is to keep Christopher Hubbart
out of trouble."
But there’s palpable fear in the community.
Sharon Duvernay, 62, is one of Hubbart’s closest neighbors. She was also
raped as a child.
"It’s absolutely horrifying," Duvernay said.
"The restrictions will never be good enough for me. He needs to be in a
place where he’s watched 24 hours by more than two guards."
Duvernay
was camped outside Hubbart’s home again Friday with other Ladies of
Lake LA, a community group created to fight his release to their desert
community.
"We’re so isolated, and that’s why we love it out here
it’s really peaceful," Duvernay said. But she said phone use is spotty,
patrols infrequent and "we’re terrified he’ll do this again."