PLACER COUNTY, Calif. — The Placer County District Attorney's Office said it filed a motion that, if granted, would expand the search to place a sexually violent predator to Sacramento County.
William Stephenson was granted conditional transient release into Placer County in July 2023. Officials with Placer County, Department of State Hospitals and Liberty Healthcare have looked for a place to house him ever since.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office objected to expanding the search, according to the Placer County District Attorney's Office.
There was a status conference Monday where the Department of State Hospitals said it was assessing a location in Placer County. The exact location hasn't been released, but the Department of State Hospitals said it will schedule a housing meeting once the site has been assessed.
The Placer County District Attorney's Office said Liberty Healthcare, a contractor with the Department of State Hospitals, has done an "exhaustive search" in Placer County and hasn't found a suitable location.
If granted, the motion wouldn't guarantee Stephenson would be placed in Sacramento County. Both counties would be searched for a suitable location.
Previously, the Placer County District Attorney's Office confirmed with ABC10 the state was looking at a property very close to tribal lands but the property was later deemed no longer viable.
The Placer County District Attorney's Office also said Stephenson's counsel also asked to expand the search, saying he has family in Sacramento County. Stephenson indicated he was born and raised in Sacramento County, moved to Placer County briefly, and then moved back to Orangevale in Sacramento County after college. He was incarcerated and on probation in Sacramento County and lived in Placer County briefly before being arrested and convicted for offenses in El Dorado County, which is when he got his status as a Sexually Violent Predator, according to the Placer County District Attorney's Office.
The next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 16 in Roseville. The Placer County District Attorney's Office said the Department of State Hospitals could schedule a housing committee before the next hearing.
ABC10 previously reached out to the Department of State Hospitals for comment.
"Federal and state patient privacy laws prevent DSH from releasing any information on whether an individual is a current or former patient or was ever a patient with DSH," the Department of State Hospitals said in a previous statement.
ABC10 reached out to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office for a statement.
Stephenson was first arrested in 1985 for indecent exposure and then for sexual violence in 1991.
Watch more on ABC10 | Placer County residents provide feedback at the latest meeting concerning the release of William Stephenson
