Judge: Release predator within 2 weeks

A sexually violent predator whose release has been delayed for more than a year was ordered set free within two weeks by a judge who blasted state officials Friday for making little effort to find suitable housing for the convicted child molester.

Timothy Lee Boggs, a 51-year-old Sacramento man who has two convictions for molesting 9-year-old boys in the 1980s, must be released by July 28. He will be allowed to live wherever he wants in Sacramento County as long as he adheres to a series of restrictions and takes part in at least a year of group therapy, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Ronald W. Tochterman ruled.

"I recognize that there is a significant danger that Mr. Boggs may reoffend, that there's cause for legitimate concern," Tochterman said as the mother of one of Boggs' victims sat staring in disbelief. "On the other hand, he has paid his debt to society, and then some."

The ruling comes after delays that Boggs' attorney said were "political" efforts to keep his client behind bars even after it was clear that he had the legal right to be freed.

"Nothing's happened in 400 days," attorney Ken Rosenfeld said. "Your honor, the law needs to prevail. Please release Mr. Boggs."

Tochterman noted that Boggs had been ordered released May 20, 2005, from his commitment at Atascadero State Hospital, but that no action to find Boggs housing had been successful and that he had no choice but to order his release.

"Regardless of what I think of whether Mr. Boggs should be released, I am required to follow the law," the judge said. "It is 100 percent clear under the law that Mr. Boggs is entitled to be released."

Boggs was ordered returned to Atascadero until July 28, and after that he will be allowed to choose a home anywhere in Sacramento County, as long as it is not within a quarter-mile of any K-12 school

During the court proceedings, Boggs sat calmly, conferring occasionally with his attorney.

Viktoria Fenech, the mother of Boggs' victim from the 1989 case, watched the judge's ruling in silence and stared at Boggs, who had once been a family friend.

"I just feel kind of numb," Fenech said. "It's just kind of disgusting."

Tochterman's ruling came after a lawyer for the state Department of Mental Health asked the judge to delay Boggs' release until the department could find suitable housing. Mental Health officials have said notoriety over the case has made it difficult to find anyone willing to rent space to Boggs.

He was sentenced to 13 years in prison after a 1988 arrest for molesting a 9-year-old boy. Boggs served seven years and was paroled, but a parole violation of possessing alcohol sent him back to prison. A court then declared him to be a sexually violent predator, a classification that landed him at Atascadero State Hospital, where he spent the past six years.

Under the law, the state is required to find housing and then provide intensive services for those who graduate from the sexually violent predator program. More than 6,200 sex offenders have been evaluated for the program, but only about 500 met the criteria for admission.

Tony Seferian, a deputy attorney general, said that the state has made 269 separate contacts within Sacramento County in an effort to place Boggs, but that most landlords simply were not willing to rent to him. He must be released to Sacramento County because his most-recent crime occurred here.

"I think it's clear that there has not been a willful attempt to evade the (court) order," he said.

But Tochterman said that the department had made little substantial effort to find a place for Boggs, and that state officials had not even met with Sacramento County on the matter until January.

"There seems to be no sincere effort to arrange for Mr. Boggs," the judge said. "I can think of a number of options that should have been explored had the department been acting in good faith."

Boggs will be the sixth sexually violent predator in the past 10 years to win release from Atascadero after completing the hospital's four-stage inpatient treatment program. One was returned a short time after release because officials said he was not complying with treatment requirements, but he did not reoffend.

The previous five faced heated community protests and, in several cases, had to be moved to new homes. None has been ordered released -- until now -- without having housing set up for them.

Under the program, Boggs is to complete the fifth stage in therapy while living in the community under strict supervision that includes constant satellite tracking and covert monitoring by law enforcement.

Boggs' attorney would not discuss where his client might plan to live, but Sacramento bounty hunter Leonard Padilla said after the hourlong hearing that he believed his offer to house Boggs in a vacant trailer on land he owns near Natomas is dead.

The state has said it has five potential sites where Boggs might be placed, including the Padilla land, on property at Folsom State Prison or on the grounds of the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center south of Elk Grove.

But Mental Health never presented a recommendation for any housing location for Boggs, prompting Rosenfeld to try to find a place on his own.

Seferian made a last-ditch effort Friday to persuade the judge to give Mental Health more time, seeking a longer grace period than the seven days Tochterman said he might order. Instead, Tochterman said Boggs will go free in 14 days.

Tochterman said the state's efforts to find a place for Boggs were "an exercise in futility."

Deputy District Attorney William McCamy noted that his office had no authority to determine where Boggs lives, but he asked the judge unsuccessfully to delay release for at least 30 days.

"What I'm asking for is one last chance," McCamy said. "It has been a long and drawn-out process. But in other counties where this has occurred it's also been a long and drawn-out process.

"This is a difficult, difficult task."

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• The Bee's Mareva Brown can be reached at (916) 321-1088 or mbrown@sacbee.com.