A man dubbed the "bolder-than-most rapist'' for a series of sexual assaults committed in the 1980s can be released from a state hospital in Coalinga and into the community in San Diego County in a supervised setting, a judge ruled on Thursday.
The ruling means state hospital officials will begin searching for a residence where Alvin Ray Quarles, 61, can be housed under strict supervision to continue undergoing treatment at an off-site location.
Quarles spent 25 years in state prison after pleading guilty in 1989 to committing a string of rapes, robberies, and burglaries. Some of the attacks were committed at knifepoint and Quarles sometimes forced the women's husbands
or boyfriends to watch. He was committed to a state hospital in 2014 and has remained there ever since.
Quarles is classified as a sexually violent predator, a designation for those convicted of sexually violent offenses and diagnosed with a mental disorder that makes them likely to re-offend.
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After serving their prison sentences, SVPs undergo treatment at state hospitals, but may also petition courts to continue treatment in outpatient locations, where they are monitored via GPS, among other measures.
On Thursday, San Diego County Superior Court Judge David M. Gill granted Quarles' release following a bench trial in which he heard direct testimony from a psychologist who evaluated Quarles on a year-to-year basis.
During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Zach Wallace said four doctors who evaluated Quarles concluded he was ready for release. The prosecutor said the D.A.'s Office examined case law regarding SVP releases and found that in a prior case, prosecutors were unable to challenge an SVP's release when no mental health professionals disagreed with the individual's suitability for release.
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Quarles' attorney, Solomon Chang, said Quarles has reached a place where he is genuinely remorseful and gained an "understanding of what he has done to his victims.'' Chang called Quarles "an example of how we actually want the SVP Act to work'' because he's made progress to confront the impact of his crimes, according to the attorney.
"It doesn't make up for [what he did] but what it does do is show the court that the chances of him doing this again are basically zero,'' Chang said.
NBC 7 spoke with two women, Mary Taylor and Cynthia Medina, who survived being attacked by Quarles in 1987 and 1988, respectively. They have been advocating for more than a decade against Quarles' release.
"I feel that sometimes I'm so discouraged that I don't even want to say anything anymore and just clam up and go," Medina said. "It's not changed anything."
However, they understand the judge's decision is the result of current legislation.
"What a terrible catch-22, like we want him to stay in, but the law says he has to come out and we don't want him to go into a local community, but if he doesn't get a home in a community he could just be released onto the streets," Taylor said.
Gill said that while officials will begin the process of looking for a residence to house Quarles, the search is often lengthy and it is difficult to find a suitable location. Another hearing was scheduled for Feb. 16, during which officials are expected to provide updates about the housing search efforts.
