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Judge rules that placement of sexually violent predator not appropriate in El Cajon neighborhood
Now that the Mount Helix location has been determined to be unsuitable, the state will be tasked with finding another site to house Merle Wade Wakefield. Author: Allison Royal (KFMB), CBS News 8 Team Published: 6:32 AM PDT May 10, 2021 Updated: 11:27 AM PDT May 10, 2021
EL CAJON, Calif. A placement hearing was held on Monday for a sexually violent predator proposed for conditional release at a home in the Mount Helix neighborhood.
The San Diego Superior Court judge ruled that the neighborhood in El Cajon is not an appropriate location to house the man.
SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – A placement hearing is scheduled Monday for a sexually violent predator proposed for conditional release at a home in the Mount Helix neighborhood.
Merle Wade Wakefield, 64, who is currently housed at Coalinga State Hospital, is classified as a sexually violent predator, a designation for those convicted of sexually violent offenses and diagnosed with a mental disorder that makes them likely to re-offend.
After serving their prison sentences, sexually violent predators may undergo treatment at state hospitals, and may also petition courts to continue their treatment in supervised outpatient locations.
According to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, Wakefield was convicted of sex crimes in 1981 and 1990 and served prison terms for each crime.
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More than 40 people spoke at a hearing Tuesday, urging a San Diego judge to deny placement of a 78-year-old man classified by the state as sexually violent predator in a home in the Mount Helix area, where he would live under supervision and GPS monitoring.
Douglas Badger, 78
(Courtesy of San Diego County Sheriff’s Department)
Last month, local authorities announced the state had proposed placing Douglas Badger at 10957 Horizon Hills Drive, a home on the northeast slope of Mount Helix, just outside El Cajon city limits.
Superior Court Judge Theodore Weathers did not decide Tuesday on the proposed placement, nor did he indicate when he would make the ruling.