Sexual predator to be placed in Merced County rural area. Community voices concern
Merced County officials and state lawmakers expressed concerns Monday over the scheduled placement of a sexually violent predator in a small rural city in the north.
A Stanislaus County judge has authorized the release of Kevin Gray, a sexually violent predator, into Ballico, a rural community in nothern Merced County. According to District 22 State Assemblymember Juan Alanis, initial plans were to release Gray into Stanislaus, but he is now being considered for the alternative placement.
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said his office wasn’t notified and that he learned of Gray’s planned release after community members reached out to him for answers.
“To know that we have an SVP in that area is not acceptable to me,” he said. “I will fight tooth and nail to keep this guy from our county and if the judge feels that this guy is safe let the judge put him in her own neighborhood, because it’s not wanted in ours.”
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Warnke said he doesn’t have the staff, resources or personnel that can be dedicated to monitoring Gray. He also expressed concerns over school bus stops and the rural location.
Warnke said Gray is currently at a state mental facility and that he did not have any details on his conviction.
Merced County District Attorney Nicole Silveira expressed her disbelief and anger over the decision. Silveira said that when her office was notified in December, that the investigations unit gathered statements from members of the community in opposition to the placement.
According to Silveira, she, the sheriff, and members of the community presented their arguments to the judge during a hearing on Jan. 18.
. “We are exploring our legal options to see if there are any mechanisms by which to review and appeal it,” she said.
Assemblymember Alanis cited SB 1034, which he said requires the state to notify direct jurisdictions prior to beginning a housing search when releasing a sexually violent predator into the community. Alanis said the bill also says there should be participation from relevant law enforcement.
California State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil who represents the fourth senate district including Ballico, echoed the sentiment.
“The safety and well-being of our community members are non-negotiable priorities and we will not allow the release of sexually violent predators without rigorous adherences to the law,” Alvarado-Gil said.
Alvarado-Gil said SB 1034 explicitly sates that a sexually violent predator can’t be housed in any other county unless a judge petitions extraordinary circumstances for not identifying a suitable residence in the person’s county of domicile.
“Mr. Gray is not from Merced County, and he should not be released in our community,” said Alvarado-Gil.
Alvarado-Gil said the pending release of a sexually violent predator in her district raises serious concerns about the process by which the decisions are being made absent of public input, public safety and the public awareness of the potential threat to children and families.
Ballico resident Jana Nairn, 50, attended the news conference Monday and said she and other members of the community learned of Gray’s planned release in December, after the Stanisalus County Sheriff’s Office informed a member of the Ballico community.
Nairn described the community as very rural and said many children are transported to schools through the use of rural bus routs.
“So those children have to walk distances away from their home at designated times to stand unattended at the bus route or come home,” she said. “So that’s a big risk for our community.”
