Boulevard, a sparsely populated desert community of roughly 750 residents an hour east of downtown San Diego, could soon become home to two more sexually violent predators — a legal designation for sex offenders deemed at high risk of committing new crimes.
Reynaldo Delrosario, 71, served a 12-year prison sentence for lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under 10. Michael Poulsom, 67, was sentenced to 15 years after committing similar offenses against victims under 14 in both Georgia and San Diego. Both men were later diagnosed with pedophilia disorder and sent to a state hospital for treatment once their prison terms ended.
This week, a San Diego judge is set to decide whether the two men should be granted conditional release and placed in state-funded housing in Boulevard. If approved, they would bring the total number of sexually violent predators living in San Diego County’s rural neighborhoods to nine — more than half of all such placements statewide.
San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson, a Republican representing the county’s southeastern district, says there’s a smarter way to handle these placements. He’s pushing for the county to adopt a housing model used in Washington state, where sexually violent predators live together in group homes with constant supervision rather than being scattered individually into small, unsuspecting towns.
Anderson argues that consolidating offenders in more isolated locations with round-the-clock oversight would improve monitoring, strengthen services and reduce risks to nearby residents — all while giving the offenders more stability.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Theodore Weathers is expected to rule Thursday on whether to grant conditional release for Poulsom and Delrosario. Anderson intends to use that hearing to pitch his proposal to the court.
“The security is much greater,” Anderson said, “but there’s more freedom for the SVPs because they’re living in an area where no one’s upset that they’re there.”
Why San Diego carries the heaviest load
A sexually violent predator, under California law, is someone convicted of a violent sexual offense — such as rape or child sexual assault — who has been diagnosed with a mental disorder that makes future offenses likely. After serving prison time, these individuals are frequently committed to a state hospital for continued treatment.
If treatment progresses well, offenders can request conditional release. The state’s housing contractor, Liberty Healthcare, searches for available rentals either in the county where the offender originally lived or where the crimes occurred. Local sheriffs and district attorneys weigh in on potential sites, and the public can offer comment. Ultimately, a judge reviews proposed safety measures — GPS tracking, surprise inspections, polygraph exams and drug testing — before deciding whether to approve the placement.
This routine has played out repeatedly in San Diego County, which now hosts half of all sexually violent predators living under conditional release statewide. Six currently reside in the backcountry communities of Borrego Springs, a town of about 2,700 bordering Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and Jacumba, home to roughly 740 people, according to records kept by the San Diego District Attorney’s Office. A seventh offender has already been cleared for placement in Borrego Springs.
One previous case ended in tragedy. Merle Wakefield, a sexually violent predator living in the county, cut off his ankle monitor while working at an Amazon warehouse in Rancho Bernardo and fled on Sept. 25. Weeks later, San Diego sheriff’s officials confirmed he had been found dead in a local riverbed.
Statewide, the Department of State Hospitals reports 14 sexually violent predators currently living under conditional release. Should the court approve the Boulevard placements this week, San Diego County alone would be housing nine of them.
The San Diego Public Defender’s Office will represent both men in this month’s hearings. Alexandra Knudson, the office’s civil commitment supervisor, said attorneys have not taken a position on the specific placements but will review Anderson’s group-housing proposal.
Small towns, big frustrations
Residents in these rural, often low-income communities have long complained about having little say when a sexually violent predator moves in nearby. Anderson said that frustration is part of what’s driving his push for reform.
“These are rural communities,” he said. “They don’t have the means to push back or fight back.”
In 2021, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously opposed placing any more sexually violent predators in the county without greater local input — but the vote carried no legal weight over state placement policy.
Outgoing state Sen. Brian Jones has spent years trying to reform the system. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a Jones-authored bill requiring the Department of State Hospitals to study alternative transitional housing options for offenders on conditional release. However, a separate Jones bill aimed at tightening oversight of placement decisions stalled in the Assembly after clearing the Senate. That measure would have required the state hospitals director to approve rental leases to prevent unsafe or inappropriate placements and would have made public safety the top priority in site selection. Civil liberties advocates and public defenders opposed it, arguing it would make it nearly impossible for offenders to secure release after completing their sentences.
Looking north for a solution
Anderson believes Washington state’s system offers a workable alternative. There, sexually violent predators first undergo treatment at a secure facility on McNeil Island before becoming eligible for a “less restrictive alternative” placement through annual evaluations.
Washington operates two state-run transition facilities, each staffed around the clock and capable of housing 12 to 24 offenders. The state also uses privately run community homes, some of which house multiple offenders under constant supervision, including staff who accompany residents when they leave the property.
Anderson believes a similar structure in San Diego County would provide better accountability and reduce the odds of reoffending.
“You have that constant reassurance — in positive encouragement for them to stay on the straight and narrow, protecting the community,” he said.
Washington’s approach hasn’t been without controversy, however. A plan to place up to five offenders in a large farmhouse in the city of Tenino collapsed after rising costs and fierce community opposition. Cynthia Shipley, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, said officials there work closely with local governments, law enforcement and private housing providers to address community concerns as they arise.
Anderson’s team says he’s aware of those conflicts and plans to address them directly in his proposal. He believes several large private ranches or resort-style properties in his district could serve as potential sites, offering seclusion from residential neighborhoods while keeping offenders under tighter supervision.
He also sees a financial upside. A 2024 report from the California State Auditor found that the state spent $93 million over two decades to place 56 high-risk sex offenders through conditional release, with annual costs climbing from $5.3 million in 2018-19 to $9.4 million in 2022-23 amid rising housing costs and contractor fees paid to Liberty Healthcare.
Anderson argues that grouping offenders together could reduce those costs while improving both supervision and treatment outcomes. He plans to present his proposal in court Thursday and bring it before the Board of Supervisors next month.
“The community benefits,” he said. “The cost of it decreases, and the quality of care for the SVPs increases. Statistically, the Washington model has been far more successful. There’s no downside across the board.”
Original source: CalMatters
