MODESTO — Convicted child molester Kevin Scott Gray can be released from a state hospital, a Stanislaus County judge ruled, but not at the proposed residence on North Central Avenue outside the Turlock city limits.
Judge Carrie M. Stephens decreed Monday that Gray, 72, could be conditionally released from the California Department of State Hospitals in Coalinga, something a state doctor recommended back in 2020. District Attorney Jeff Laugero was seeking to have that order rescinded.
However, in a second hearing Monday, the proposed release location on North Central Avenue was deemed to be too close to a home-school, nullifying that dwelling as a potential home for Gray and another convicted child molester, 61-year-old Timothy Roger Weathers.
Modesto attorney Martin Baker, who represents both men, told the judge that he planned to file a petition for a writ, seeking to appeal the decision. Baker declined a Turlock Journal request to provide further comment.
“There were two paths we were traveling,” said Laugero. “We were challenging the conditional release and we were also challenging the placement site. The conditional release was going to be a heavier lift for us, but it was a good opportunity for us to bring forward what we believed to be issues with what the doctors relied upon to develop their opinion.”
Candace Gonsalves, a Turlock resident who has been following the case since learning that convicted child molesters might be released into her neighborhood, was somewhat disheartened when she heard about the potential appeal.
“I know our district attorney is doing everything that he can,” said Gonsalves. “Of course, I would’ve loved to have seen this be done, but it probably never will. It’s just a can-kick. So, we’ll be fighting somewhere else.”
Depending on the outcome of the appeal, Gray and Weathers could eventually reside at the North Central Avenue address, or possibly at another location in Stanislaus County.
Liberty Healthcare, which contracts with the state for its conditional release program and has advocated for the release of both men, will continue to pay rent on the North Central residence.
Earlier this year, Gray was set to be released into rural Merced County just outside of Turlock. When authorities learned that Gray’s proposed address there was within one-quarter mile of a home school, it led to a reversal by Stephens.
Gray’s crimes date back to 1974, and he has admitted to molesting 25 children and having committed 1,000 acts of indecent exposure against female victims between the ages of 8 and 11, court documents show.
Weathers was convicted in San Diego County of molesting a child and sentenced to probation. Two years later, and still on probation, he was convicted of molesting two different boys in Stanislaus County. He was sentenced in 1991 to serve 18 years in prison, according to a report in the Ceres Courier. He admitted to state doctors that he had molested 20 to 45 boys.
Weathers was denied conditional release by Stephens in December 2022.
Gonsalves said she has been in touch with California lawmakers, expressing a desire to see tougher legislation regarding the release of sexual violent predators.
"We need to see change at a state level,” said Gonsalves. “We need more transparency given to the community. I’m no expert on this, but the way the current law is written gives very little time for a community to prepare for what could possibly happen, and I think that’s done intentionally. We should be able to be more proactive rather than reactive. That just seems like common sense to me.”
