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Residents urge judge to deny proposal to place sexually violent predator in Borrego Springs

Superior Court Judge David Gill did not make a decision on the placement Friday, saying he wished to visit the area

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If Michael Martinez, a sexually violent predator who has victimized several young children over decades, is cleared to live in Borrego Springs, he will be two houses down from Linda Arambula.

The thought terrifies her.

Arambula was one of more than a dozen people who showed up to a San Diego Superior Court hearing Friday, urging a judge to deny placement of 69-year-old Martinez in a home on Running M Road, a roughly two-hour drive northeast of downtown San Diego.

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“When my husband and I go to work, our kids are home by themselves. They become more vulnerable,” Arambula said outside the courthouse. “Our community is one of children and seniors. If this happens, our lives are going to change. We’re going to be living in fear.”

Michael Martinez, 69
(Courtesy of San Diego County Sheriff’s Department)

Superior Court Judge David Gill did not decide Friday on the proposed placement. Instead he said he planned to take a trip out to Borrego Springs to see the area for himself. Several judges charged with making decisions about sexually violent predators have visited the proposed sites in the past, and some have rejected the placement afterward.

Gill said in court that he‘d spent hours reading through hundreds of pages of comments, the vast majority from people who live in the area and disagree with Martinez’s placement.

He said some had concerns about Martinez reoffending. Others were worried it would take too long for law enforcement to respond should something occur. Several residents said because of the desert community’s rural location, it often takes around 30 minutes for sheriff’s deputies to arrive. Still others were worried Martinez would not receive enough supervision.

Gill said they were all legitimate concerns, and thanked the residents for making the long drive to share their perspective.

Alan Stillman, executive director of Liberty Healthcare Corporation, which would monitor Martinez during his release, said during the hearing that no sexually violent predator under their supervision had ever reoffended.

Residents weren’t alone in their frustration. County Supervisor Jim Desmond argued during a press conference before the hearing that the county should have a say in where sexually violent predators are placed.

“Sexually violent predators are the worst of the worst and they should not be put back into any neighborhoods in San Diego County,” Desmond said.

In October, led by Desmond, the county Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to oppose any plan to release people classified as sexually violent predators in the community unless the state gives local jurisdictions some control, including the power to reject placements.

But that would require a change in state law.

Sexually violent predators represent less than one percent of California’s registered sex offender population. To be designated a predator, an offender has to have been convicted of a sex crime against at least one victim and be diagnosed with a mental disorder that makes him likely to reoffend.

The predator designation comes after a person has served their prison sentence, and is then committed to a state mental hospital following civil proceedings.

Most offenders — including Martinez — who fit the criteria are housed at Coalinga State Hospital in Fresno County, where they can take part in a program that aims to teach them how to curb their criminal urges.

By law, people designated as predators are committed indefinitely, although after a year they have the right to petition for a new hearing to be released. If it is determined in court that they no longer fit the predator criteria, they may be released without supervision.

Martinez, who was born and raised in coastal North County, has been diagnosed with a pedophilia and personality disorder, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Officials said Martinez was convicted in four separate cases between 1979 and 2004. The crimes include child molestation, annoying/molesting a child, lewd or lascivious acts on a child under 14, and annoying a child under 18. The crimes happened in San Diego and Los Angeles counties, the District Attorney’s office said.

Martinez was approved for release from a state mental hospital in 2017, and placed in Boulevard in 2018. The following year, his release was revoked, and he was ordered back to the hospital. Judge Gill made it clear Friday that Martinez was not sent back to the hospital because he reoffended or attempted to reoffend but because he violated some unspecified aspect of his supervision agreement.

He was again cleared for release last year.

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