Convicted pedophile’s planned release brings state & Stanislaus officials together to fight

Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse spoke out Friday against convicted pedophile Kevin Gray’s release, which he said would be in an unincorporated area west of Turlock.

Gray’s rap sheet for sex crimes against young children includes four convictions spanning from 1974 to 1992, with some of those being in Stanislaus County.

Gray has spent most his time since then incarcerated at a California state hospital in Coalinga. For years, he has tried to gain his freedom through the state’s Conditional Release Program, or CONREP. The process is lengthy and requires years of psychological evaluations and treatment, and Gray is on track to be released.

“Our District Attorney’s Office is working hard to keep this guy where he belongs, in a state hospital,” Dirkse said in a video posted to the Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page.

The sheriff pointed out that a possible location where Gray would be housed is near a bar. Gray was diagnosed with alcohol use disorder and admitted that he was drunk during some of his crimes. He said he was sober when he molested a girl at a Modesto arcade in 1992, though.

Gray also was diagnosed with pedophilia disorder, exhibitionist disorder and arousal by prepubescent children

Dirkse said he and the DA’s Office are “doing everything we can to fight this potential release.” The Sheriff’s Office announced it set up an email, SVPinfo@stansheriff.com, to which residents can send their concerns.

Tuesday, state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil announced that she, District Attorney Jeff Laugero, the Sheriff’s Office, Turlock Police Chief Jason Hedden, Stanislaus County Supervisor Vito Chiesa and Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke will hold a press conference on Friday, June 21, at the Turlock Police Department. Gil said she vehemently opposes Gray’s release.

What were Kevin Gray’s crimes?

In 1974, Gray was convicted of lewd acts and oral copulation with an 8-year-old girl. At the time, he lived in a low-income housing project in Los Angeles.

Outside of the Grays’ home, his wife would babysit a neighbor’s two daughters while taking care of his and her own child. One day, Gray’s wife sent one of the girls she was babysitting to the Gray household to retrieve something.

Gray, sitting on the couch, exposed himself when the girl walked in. This was a common tactic Gray used to groom children. In one psychological evaluation, he admitted that he’d exposed himself to her before he molested her.

Gray sexually assaulted the girl, who told Gray’s wife what happened. The wife reportedly told the girl not to tell her mother about the incident, but the child did several days later, according to the documents.

The Los Angeles Police Department arrested Gray when the girl’s parent’s reported the matter. He spent several days in jail before posting bail. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 36 months of probation.

In 1979, Gray molested an 8-year-old girl after breaking into her home in Park County, Wyoming. Gray said he spotted the girl playing with her brother the day of the crime and went to her home that night.

He climbed through the window of the home and molested the girl as she slept. When the girl woke up and called for her parents, he escaped back out the window and lost his glasses. He returned to retrieve them the next day and was caught. He spent about a year in a state hospital for this crime.

In 1986, Gray was arrested for lewd acts with an 11-year-old girl. The crime occurred at a Ceres mobile home park where Gray and the girl both lived.

Gray groomed the girl by regularly giving her candy. One day, he asked the child to come inside to watch TV with him. While they were on the couch, Gray exposed himself. When the girl tried to leave, he grabbed her and pulled her back down onto the couch.

When Gray tried to cover a window, the girl ran out of residence and told her aunt. He was arrested and sentenced to eight years in state prison.

In 1993, Gray was arrested for molesting an 8-year-old girl at the Funworks arcade in Modesto. It was stated in the documents that Gray went to the arcade with the intent to molest and was exposing himself to children before this specific crime.

Gray spotted a girl playing a game and pushed himself up against her. When she walked away, he followed her and then groped her. The girl went and told a chaperon but Gray was not caught. He was spotted by the chaperon several weeks later and arrested. Gray was sentenced to 18 years in prison for this.

Gray has admitted that he either touched or fondled about 50 girls between the ages of 8 and 11 over the years. He also admitted that he engaged in about 1,000 acts of indecent exposure.

“Gray said he did it so often that he lost track of the numbers,” his 2020 evaluation reads.

What treatment has Gray received?

Gray has been incarcerated at the state hospital in Coalinga since his 1992 prison sentence was completed. During his time, he’s undergone extensive psychological evaluations resulting in hundreds of pages of documents.

His treatments included taking medication and psychological therapy through the Sexual Offender Treatment Program, or SOTP. Gray had completed up to module four, the highest one can go before release. The major points of the program are treatment needs and progress assessment, a thoughts and fantasy polygraph and a penile plethysmograph.

According to a 2024 evaluation, Gray had appeared to be experiencing “more comfort in openly sharing his thoughts, events leading up to those thoughts and what he finds to be most effective in managing the thoughts.”

These “pop-up thoughts” are referenced frequently in the evaluations. Gray still has sexual fantasies about children and has been trained to identify and extinguish them “with activity that distracts and thought replacements.” The thoughts were listed as “typical” for someone with his diagnoses.

Gray’s latest CONREP liaison report states that he has “demonstrated good self-judgment,” shown effective use of therapy and progress in identifying and reducing his risk factors” and was a “non-responder” on the penile plethysmograph test.

“Recommendations are that he continue to follow the rules and ensure maintenance of his progress and seek opportunities to further develop any tools that may help him to integrate into the community,” reads his 2024 evaluation.

If released into a CONREP housing facility, Gray will be required to continue treatment and could be subjected to restrictions such as not being able to travel, work or drive, among any others an official may deem necessary. He may also be subject to continued polygraph tests, surveillance and GPS tracking.

Gray’s conditions for his release had not been made available as of June 18.