Boulevard, California is a rural community of about 750 people set in brushy desert mountains an hour east of downtown San Diego.
It may soon be home to two sexually violent predators: a state category used to describe sex offenders with a high risk of reoffending.
Reynaldo Delrosario, 71, was sentenced to 12 years in state prison for “lewd and lascivious acts” with a child under age 10. Michael Poulsom, 67, committed lewd acts with victims under age 14 in Georgia and San Diego, and was sentenced to 15 years in California state prison.
Both were diagnosed with pedophilia disorder and committed to the state hospital for treatment after serving their sentences. On Thursday a San Diego judge will weigh whether to grant conditional release, and place them in state-funded homes in the tiny community.
If their requests are granted, they would join seven other violent sex offenders in residential neighborhoods of backcountry San Diego, leaving the county with more than half of all such placements in California.
San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson, a Republican who represents the southeast region of the county, has another idea.
He wants the county to adopt a model used in Washington State, which houses sexually violent predators in group homes with round-the-clock supervision. Placing them together in more secluded areas would provide better monitoring and services, and reduce the risk to surrounding neighborhoods, he said.
On Thursday, San Diego Superior Court Judge Theodore Weathers will decide whether to grant conditional release to Poulsom and Delrosario. Anderson hopes to persuade the court to pilot the group housing model.
“The security is much greater,” Anderson said. “But there’s more freedom for the SVPs…
