TURLOCK, Calif. — Outcry is growing in Turlock after residents found out two sexually violent predators might be released right into their community.
"We must prioritize the protection of our residents and our children over the rights of a four-time convicted sexual predator," said Turlock Police Chief Jason Hedden.
Families and elected officials made their voices heard through a protest and press conference Friday about the possible release of convicted child molesters Kevin Scott Gray and Timothy Roger Weathers.
"It's absolutely terrible," said Stanislaus County resident Erica Farmer. "I mean, no child or anybody should ever experience sexual violence."
Gray and Weathers have forced several of the most innocent people — children — to experience just that.
The two — convicted of molesting a combined seven kids in Stanislaus County, Southern California and the state of Wyoming— were recommended by Liberty Health to be released from the state hospital and into the Turlock community.
"There's no street lights in the area and it creates a very dangerous environment. It's also next door to a bar and we know that alcohol has been a predecessor to Gray to perpetrate on children," said State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil. "So how did Liberty Health and the Department of State Hospitals make their decision to place Gray here?"
Liberty Health did not respond to a request for comment. The Department of State Hospitals said it couldn’t comment directly on the matter because of privacy laws.
While officials haven’t identified the home where the two would be placed, neighbors believe it's along Central Avenue — next door to Erica Farmer and her family’s home.
"I homeschool my daughter here and we have children here all the time and especially the fact that my children are in the range of both of these pedophiles' fetishes," said Farmer. "We're not going to allow this to happen."
That's why Farmer joined dozens of others in a protest outside the property that state officials were expected to visit Friday.
But just after noon, Turlock Police Chief Jason Hedden joined the protest lines and told organizers that the scheduled visit had been postponed.
"There is absolutely no reason, in a civilized society, we should take the risk of Gray making one more child his victim," said Raj Singh, Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney says he found some factors that might disqualify the location where the court planned to place the two predators. It'll now be up to a judge whether the two are released to that home. Despite the canceled visit, law enforcement officials and neighbors have one message.
"We're going to fight this," said Farmer. "There's no way this is going to happen."
Watch more from ABC10: Concerns grow over release, housing of sexually violent predators in Stanislaus County
