All that stands in the way of convicted child molester Kevin Scott Gray being released near Turlock is a July 1 court date before Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Carrie M. Stephens.
Should Stephens revoke Gray’s release from the California Department of State Hospitals in Coalinga, as she did earlier this year when he was slated to be released into neighboring Merced County, it would essentially be kicking the can down the road until Gray’s next evaluation or his next legal challenge.
“It’s a can worth kicking,” said Stanislaus County District Attorney Jeff Laugero. “And if not us, then who? I’ll keep kicking and kicking and kicking.”
A site visit of the dwelling expected to house Gray and another sexually violent predator — 60-year-old Timothy Weathers — is set to be conducted on Friday.
“When they’re going through the search for a site, there’s a number of entities that have to be involved in that, and our office is one of them," said Laugero. “And one of our special-victims prosecutors, whose been involved in these cases, attends those site-assessment meetings.”
Representatives from the Turlock Police Department and Stanislaus County’s Sheriff’s Office also will take part in the site visit, checking to see if the home is too close to a school, its proximity to bars, and other factors.
Sheriff Jeff Dirkse recorded a public safety announcement Friday in which he unveiled an email address — svpinfo@stansheriff.com — and asked members of the public to share their concerns, as well as any information they might have about home schools in the area.
“The state of California is seeking to release a sexually violent predator into our community,” Dirkse said in the video. “He is currently set to be released in the unincorporated area of Stanislaus County, west of the city of Turlock, and north of West Main Avenue. The exact address is still confidential, but it’s within 1,000 feet of a bar, and alcohol is one of the things that triggers his child molestation.”
Gray, 72, 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.
In 1974, Gray pleaded guilty in Los Angeles County to one count of child molestation and received 36 months of formal probation.
Five years later, in Park County, Wyoming, Gray was convicted of one count of having sexual contact with a minor, as well as burglary with intent to commit a felony. He was sentenced to four years in state prison and credited with 14 months for time spent at the Wyoming State Hospital.
In 1986, Gray was convicted in Stanislaus County for committing lewd acts with a child under the age of 14 (an 11-year-old Ceres girl), and received an eight-year sentence. Finally, in 1993, he was found guilty of two counts of committing lewd acts with a child under the age of 14, and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
In 2002, Gray was committed to the DSH, and in 2007 hospital staff decided he would remain there for an indeterminate length of time.
Gray petitioned the court for his conditional release in November 2019, citing a report from June of that year by Douglas Korpi, Ph.D., stating that Gray could be treated safely and effectively in the community, court documents show.
Four months later, Harry Goldberg, a consulting psychologist for the state, reported that Gray was likely to re-engage in sexually violent behavior.
Also in 2020, it was reported that Gray had been in possession of a flash drive that contained approximately 1,000 deleted — and later recovered — images of children in their underwear.
Court documents further show that Goldberg reaffirmed his opinion that Gray was likely to reoffend in reports filed in 2022 and 2024. However, Goldberg went on to say that Gray could be conditionally released since the Conditional Release Program (CONREP) “would be able to adequately protect the community as long as Respondent is under supervision."
“Doctors are doctors,” said Laugero. “And I assume that they’re experts in their field, as far as diagnosis and treatment. But I don’t know that they’re experts in the field of determining what is adequate protection of the community. And that’s where we wonder what criteria they’re using.”
According to state law, sexually violent predators must be released back into the county where they lived when their crimes were committed, unless extraordinary circumstances dictate otherwise.
In 2020, Stephens ruled that extraordinary circumstances did exist and Gray could be released outside of Stanislaus County. Earlier this year, Gray was slated to be released in Ballico — a rural Merced County community just outside of Turlock. However, days before Gray’s scheduled release, Stephens reversed her decision, setting the stage for the July 1 court date.
Conditional release requires monitoring and supervision that includes individual contact by supervision staff, specialized sex offense treatment, random drug and alcohol screening, surveillance, polygraph examinations, and active GPS tracking, according to the DSH website.
