State Officials Incur Public’s Wrath Over Proposed Residency of Violent Sexual Predator
SAN DIEGO — 70-year-old Douglas Badger has been in and out of prison and state hospitals since 1981, when he was first sentenced to 10 years in prison for a sexual assault in Riverside County. According to court documents, he is not only an alcoholic but also a schizophrenic sexual sadist with a hefty criminal history of kidnapping and sexually assaulting young male hitchhikers at gunpoint throughout San Diego county. Police say he has confessed to crimes against at least 20 victims.
After his initial 10-year stint, he was sentenced to another following a conviction in 1991 for an attack in the San Diego area. He then underwent treatment at a state mental hospital and was released in 2006, taking up residence in a trailer on Donovan State Prison property in Otay Mesa. He was however soon recommitted to Atascadero State Hospital after “regressions in his mental state and psychological diagnoses,” according to officials.
Now, the California Department of State Hospitals has recommended the 1100 block of Custer Road in Campo as Badger’s designated court-ordered residential placement, much to public disdain. What’s more is that they’ve tried to house him in Campo once already and were met, as one might expect, with considerable backlash. Being as small and close-knit as it is, with a population of 2,684 as of the 2010 census, Campo is regarded as quiet, familiar, and most importantly, safe. Residents are concerned that Badger’s living among them would disrupt the general peace of mind and cast a foreboding shadow over the community.
Initially, the planned relocation was to a trailer at 30033 Hartfell Road, and a placement hearing was scheduled for November 15th to arrive at a final ruling. In a statement published by ABC News, San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob made no bones about standing against the idea, “… It’s especially outrageous that [this man] would be housed at a location in Campo that is only four miles from two schools and a mile from a park where children gather and play.”
Skip ahead a month or so and we find that, according to the San Diego Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force, the California Department of State Hospitals is now pushing to relocate Badger to a 5-acre property at 1138 Custer Road — only about 2 miles from Campo Elementary School and 8 miles from Potrero Elementary School and Mountain Meadow High School.
The people aren’t having it, and they’ll be ready to rumble come January 3rd at 9 a.m. — when the public hearing on the proposal begins at San Diego Superior Court.
Read more:
U-T San Diego: Sexual predator could still land in Campo
San Diego 6: State Officials Propose Relocating Sexual Predator Douglas Badger to Campo
ABC 10: Department of State Hospitals wants to place high-risk sex offender in Campo
