Sex predator released from supervision (Sam Spital)

“On October 2, 2012, in a UT San Diego News article, a Defendant who pled guilty to and was convicted of child molestation in 1989 was reported to have been released from further custody after two psychological evaluations opined he was unlikely to engage in violent sexual criminal behavior. This followed a recent hearing in which the Superior Court Judge ruled that Matthew Hedge did not pose a danger to others even though classified during the intervening two decades as a sexually violent predator. He is still required to register with law enforcement as a sex offender (RSO).

Previously sentenced to Atascadero State Hospital, the defendant voluntarily participated in a lengthy sex offender treatment program. During the past seven years while in the State Department of Health program, there were several rule breaking incidents, including at least one arrest, but none were charged as any new crime. In 2005, he became the first sexually violent predator to be released in San Diego under the California’s conditional release program, where he was ordered to live in a trailer adjacent to the Donovan Correctional Facility. He was under heavy supervision and a GPS monitor on his ankle.

The above scenario clearly has caused anger and outrage by many; others have been proponents of the use of alternative means to handle sex offender cases, and some of whom cite the huge cost of this type of confinement in our penal system, which is claimed to be over $150,000 a year.”

SAM SPITAL, CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER