PLACER COUNTY, Calif. — A community's fight to prevent William Stephenson, a sexually violent predator, from being released into Placer County continued Tuesday.
Community members are fighting for him to be moved elsewhere, citing concerns for their families and children.
On Tuesday, a meeting was held at the Placer County Community Development Agency in Auburn. Around 40 people were able to voice their concerns and previous experiences with Stephenson.
The common theme is they're all worried and don't want him living in their neighborhood. After a number of court hearings on the release of sexually violent predator Willam Stephenson, a second formal community meeting rang out with the voices of residents fighting back.
"I'm here because I lived in the neighborhood where Mr. Stephenson lived the first time he was released. And he offended and now they are considering releasing him again and that's a huge concern, both for me and my neighbors," said Bonnie Gore, who is on the Board of Supervisors for Placer County.
It was back in 2014 when Gore lived in Roseville.
Stephenson had been released from custody at the time only to re-offend again three years later.
She and her neighbor, Carlos Hernandez, who has three children, were present at Tuesday's meeting and recounted stories of his previous behavior.
"My son would come up to me and says there's a man on the window looking down. And that was one. And then the other time, I went out there to let the dog out and he was exposed on his window," said Hernandez.
A judge ordered the Department of State Hospitals to hold more of these meetings to bring the public into the decision-making process.
"There was a lot of anticipation of a lot of information about locations that we might hear about and we didn't hear about any. So I think there was a lot of disappointment today," said Morgan Gire, Placer County District Attorney.
Gire said Liberty Health Care and the Department of State Hospitals are required to find a location that works for Stephenson to live. But none seem to be working.
"A number of those locations that they search for are close to school and other things that legally prevent the houses from working. And of the homes that they have felt met those guidelines, they just end up not working for one reason or another," said Gire.
He said one of the major concerns is the lack of information being made available to the public, but they want to have their input heard.
"He's not from Placer County. He's only being released here because the state says he used to live here when he was released. Now, he has to be placed here, but they have not found a location for him. They've looked at over 1,300 places in Placer County. It's time to look someplace else," said Gore.
There is a court hearing next week, where the judge has scheduled a status conference to check in with the housing committee and the Department of State hospitals and Liberty to get an update.
The judge said he's going to release Stephenson at some point, but that release has to be under the right circumstances.
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